EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has suggested that the bloc could “draw lessons” from Italy’s controversial policy of processing migrants offshore in Albania, ahead of an EU summit focused on migration.
In a letter to EU member states ahead of the meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, she stated that the European Commission would introduce new legislation aimed at increasing deportations of irregular migrants.
Von der Leyen, who has just begun her second five-year term as the European Commission President, appears to be responding to mounting pressure across Europe regarding migration.
In her letter, she highlighted that only about 20% of irregular migrants ordered to leave an EU country are actually returned, with many remaining or moving to another country within the bloc.
She emphasized the need for member states to recognize deportation decisions made by other EU countries to prevent migrants from exploiting gaps in the system to avoid deportation elsewhere.
Von der Leyen’s comments coincide with the launch of Italy’s new scheme, which sends some rescued Mediterranean migrants to Albania for processing.
Earlier this week, 16 men from Bangladesh and Egypt were transferred from Lampedusa to one of two newly-built centres on the Albanian coast, where their asylum claims will be processed.
The centres, funded by the Italian government at a cost of around €650 million (£547 million), were expected to open last spring but faced delays.
They will operate under Italian law, housing migrants while their asylum applications are reviewed, though pregnant women, children, and vulnerable individuals are exempt from the plan.
The deal with Albania has drawn criticism from political opponents of Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and several NGOs.
Riccardo Magi, an MP from the left-wing +Europa party, criticized the Albania scheme as “cruel, useless, and expensive.” Meanwhile, the NGO Doctors Without Borders warned that it could lead to further harm and violations of human rights.
However, during a parliamentary address on Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended the plan, calling it “a new, courageous, unprecedented path” that “perfectly reflects the European spirit.”
The outcome of the Albania agreement is being closely monitored by many EU member states, some of which have toughened their stance on migration in response to growing support for far-right parties.
In recent weeks, Germany reinstated land border checks, the French government announced plans to tighten immigration laws, and Poland unveiled a plan to temporarily suspend the right to asylum for those crossing the border.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk justified the controversial move as an effort to prevent Belarus from “destabilizing” Poland by allowing large numbers of migrants to cross into the country.
In France and Germany, violent crimes sparked renewed calls for stricter immigration measures.
A Syrian failed asylum seeker stabbed three people to death in Solingen, and a young student near Paris was murdered by a Moroccan national. Both men had been issued expulsion orders that were not enforced.
Last month, 15 EU member states signed a proposal by Austria and the Netherlands aimed at improving the “efficiency” of the deportation system.