The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, backs centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) proposals to offshore asylum abroad — in what appears to mimic a controversial UK plan to send people to Rwanda.
“We have to lower the number of arrivals,” EPP leader Manfred Weber told a press conference in Bucharest on Wednesday (6 March), arguing that member states should be the ones deciding who enters the EU and not smugglers.
“This message is important for our political campaign,” Weber added.
He also confirmed that von der Leyen, who is set to be confirmed as the EPP’s lead candidate to become the next EU commission president, supports offshoring asylum to countries outside the EU. “We do this as a team,” said Weber.
“Everything that is in the manifesto is in full respect of international obligations and EU law,” von der Leyen said on Thursday, after she was confirmed as EPP lead candidate.
The hardline rhetoric aims to take voters away from the rightwing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group and far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group — which are both projected to gain more seats in June.
While the centre-left S&D group is unlikely to support asylum offshoring, the EPP and ECR might find common ground.
Last month, von der Leyen did not rule out working together with ECR during the next legislative term.
“Anyone applying for asylum in the EU could also be transferred to a safe third country and undergo the asylum process there,” reads the draft manifesto expected to be approved by EPP delegates later on Wednesday.
This is seen as a potential copy of a controversial and so-far stalled UK deal with Rwanda, and similar efforts by the socialist Danish government to offshore asylum to the east African country.
However, the UK deal faced legal challenges after a British court argued that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed poses risks for them of being returned to their home countries.
Only last year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Rwanda has no reliable or fair asylum system. There is also a 100-percent rejection rate for people from conflict zones, namely Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen, says Human Rights Watch.
As June’s elections loom, the EPP has entered into the campaign mode, presenting a roadmap for the next five years at its two-day congress in Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday.
“We need to offer policy proposals, which are unique to our political party,” said an EPP official who noted that the party stance on migration presented many “challenges” — because conservative parties in different countries have different approaches to migration.
The EPP manifesto also includes a proposal to set out annual EU humanitarian quotas for vulnerable individuals.
The idea of implementing migration quotas, wherein member states that refuse to participate in the arrangement would pay €20,000 per migrant instead, has not reached a consensus among EU countries.
“Tackling the migration problem at its core requires a new pact with African countries,” reads the manifesto.
In recent months, the EU has signed ‘cash-for-migrant-control’ deals with Tunisia and Mauritania, and it is expected to do so with Egypt.
In December, EU lawmakers passed a rule known as the ‘Rwanda’ clause which allows EU countries to ignore the definition of a ‘safe’ country if there’s already an agreement with that country. This could apply to deals spanning Tunisia, Egypt, Mauritania, and possibly others.
The EPP, which represents centre-right political parties across Europe, is expected to remain the largest group in the parliament after the June elections.
At least 12 countries in the EU are led by EPP leaders —namely, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Romania, Finland, Cyprus, Poland, and Luxemburg.
And the EPP’s Social Democratic Party is leading the polls in Portugal ahead of national elections on Sunday.
This article has been updated to include a quote from von der Leyen referring to the EPP manifesto’s plan to offshore asylum
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