French President Emmanuel Macron has shot down the idea of backing a collective European project to establish illegal-migrant return hubs outside the bloc, after the EU Parliament paved the way earlier this week.
Claiming that it is contrary to the supposed values of “Europe”, President Macron said that France will not agree to fund any EU migrant return hubs, nor will Paris seek to partner on an individual basis with a third-party country, as it will be allowed to under the new returns regulations passed on Wednesday in Strasbourg.
Rather than allowing illegals to remain in EU nations while they await deportation, the impending rules will allow European countries to send migrants to holding centres abroad while they seek to return them to their homeland.
The model was initially floated by the former Conservative government in the United Kingdom, which struck an agreement to send illegal boat migrants to Rwanda. However, the programme never got off the ground as it was legally challenged at home by open borders activist attorneys and at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It was ultimately scrapped by Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on their first day in power in 2024.
A similar scheme was set up by Prime Minsiter Giorgia Meloni’s government in Rome, which partnered with Albania to establish return centres for those who illegally cross the Mediterranean from Africa. Yet this, too, was stymied by judicial activism in Italy and at the European Court of Justice. The passage of new regulations by the European Parliament this week will likely pave the way for the Albania scheme to be revived and potentially expanded, with nearly 20 EU nations expressing interest in such a programme and potentially funding a joint project.
Source: