Europe’s ‘largest and most influential’ political group is calling for a deportation deal that would allow European countries to deport illegal migrants and send them to other countries.
The plan by the center-right European People’s Party is reminiscent of the British Rwanda deal, in which the British government plans to pay the African country to host British illegal migrants.
The European People’s Party is a key backer of Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission – one of the highest positions in the European Union.
Von der Leyen is himself a member and supporter of the group, which includes dozens of political parties across Europe, many of which are in power in their respective countries.
The group’s manifesto states: ‘We want to implement the concept of safe third countries. Anyone who applies for asylum in the European Union could also be transferred to a safe third country and go through the asylum procedure there.’
The plan by the center-right European People’s Party is reminiscent of the British Rwanda deal, in which the British government pays the African country to host the country’s illegal migrants.
However, despite planning a similar policy, the group has attempted to distance itself from Britain’s controversial Rwanda policy, which has come under heavy scrutiny for potentially breaching the European Convention on Human Rights.
Rwanda’s asylum seeker policy could see the illegal migrants sent there by Britain being sent back to the country they originally came from.
If this were the case for the illegal migrants in question, it would mean that Britain has breached Article 3 of the treaty – the right not to be tortured.
Last year, the Court of Appeal in Britain ruled that there were so many problems with the Rwandan asylum system that asylum seekers could indeed be forced to return to the country from which they had fled.
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the Rwanda policy was unlawful and to counter this the government attempted to draft new legislation officially declaring Rwanda a safe country.
This would prevent the courts from blocking the government’s plans, as Rwanda would be a safe country in the eyes of the law.
However, this legislation is currently being prevented because the House of Lords, which must agree to a vote in the House of Commons, is now consistently blocking the new law.
The European People’s Party manifesto emphasizes that the ‘safe country criteria must be consistent with the core obligations of the Geneva Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights’.
It says that none of the treaties “include the right to freely choose the country of protection.”
The European People’s Party is a Christian democratic group that believes in using Christian teachings to tackle political challenges.
It has enormous influence on European decisions, not only because one of its members holds the presidency, but also because of the enormous size of the group.
The group said in the final version of its manifesto ahead of May’s European Parliament elections that it wants a series of agreements with non-EU countries aimed at deporting illegal migrants to ‘safe’ countries elsewhere in the world.
The draft, which calls for a fundamental change in European asylum law, will be discussed at the EPP’s annual congress in Bucharest on Wednesday.
The European People’s Party is a key supporter of Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission – one of the highest positions in the European Union
The manifesto of the European People’s Party states: ‘We want to implement the concept of safe third countries. Anyone who applies for asylum in the European Union could also be transferred to a safe third country and go through the asylum procedure there.’
The European People’s Party is backing Von der Leyen for a second term, but tightening migration policy could prove to be a challenge for the president in the European Parliament.
As president, she must represent the entire bloc (similar to a monarch who is above politics) – not just one group within it, no matter how large that group is.
She will be formally selected as the group’s official candidate for the presidency of the European Commission during a vote in Romania on Thursday.
Sophie in ‘t Veld, a Dutch MEP and main representative of the liberal Renew faction on the parliament’s committee for civil liberties, justice and home affairs, said: “Another unpalatable piece of red meat from the European People’s Party, intended to attack the distant countries Pull. -correct voice.
‘It will not work.
‘All the EPP strategy has achieved in recent years is to make the far right bigger. So if they know it doesn’t work, why do they stubbornly repeat the same tactic every time?’