A proposal that the European Union would outsource elements of its asylum policy to countries beyond its borders was not the same as Britain’s “stupid” Rwanda policy, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said.
The leaders of the 27 EU countries are meeting in Brussels for a summit which will debate plans to further harden rules around migration and asylum, as well as discuss the war in Ukraine and the Middle East.
One of the ideas being discussed is the possibility of setting up deportation “hubs” in countries outside of the EU, where asylum seekers whose claims were rejected could be sent, before they were returned to their home country.
Speaking on Thursday morning, Mr Harris said it was important the proposal was not “misrepresented” and compared to the previous British government’s failed plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda,
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“I deplored everything about the Rwanda policy, I thought it was downright stupid to be quite honest. It didn’t really work, it didn’t really result in anything happening ... In my view [it] was not in any way compatible with human rights law,” he said. “We need to be careful that bad examples don’t get conflated with what the European Union is actually trying to do here,” the Fine Gael leader said.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told leaders she would consider proposals to set up deportation sites outside of the EU, termed “return hubs”. The sites would be located in countries under agreements made with the EU, likely in exchange for significant funding, where asylum seekers could be sent after their claims were rejected in EU countries.
The Rwanda plan envisaged asylum seekers who travelled to Britain from countries deemed safe, like France, being deported to the African country, where they would stay if granted asylum.
“The Rwanda policy was not in any manner or means a sensible policy, nor was it compliant with human rights standards and laws. Just because that model was wrong doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways,” Mr Harris said.
The Government had to keep an “open mind” on new proposals to address the pressure countries were under from migration, he said. “We are facing such a scale of challenge when it comes to migration we should of course consider innovative solutions,” he said.
“However, anything that Europe does of course must be underpinned by our common European values, international law, human rights, meeting our humanitarian obligations,” he said. Irish people were compassionate but wanted to know there was a “firmness” to the country’s asylum system, he said.
The idea for “return hubs” was floated by a group of 15 member states earlier this year, but no formal proposal has yet been brought forward by the European Commission, who start the EU lawmaking process.
The conservative government of the Netherlands is weighing a plan to send rejected African asylum seekers to Uganda, the country’s trade and development minister said late on Wednesday. Reinette Klever unveiled the idea during a visit to the east African country, reports Reuters, but it was not immediately clear whether such a plan would be legal or feasible, or whether Uganda would be amenable to it.
“We are open to any discussions,” Ugandan foreign affairs minister Jeje Odongo said in an interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS.
Meanwhile, commenting on speculation he will call a general election before the end of the year, Mr Harris said he would discuss the right time to go to the polls with his Coalition colleagues “in due course”.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin on Wednesday indicated that he would not object to an early election, if certain key pieces of legislation were passed in the coming weeks.
Mr Harris said he would not discuss his plans for the timing of an election through the media. “I want the Government to finish the work that is under way. It is then obviously my constitutional prerogative to seek the most appropriate time,” he said.
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