‘Holding camps’ plan for migrants

FAILED asylum seekers could be sent to bleak holding camps outside the EU under plans drawn up to prevent another mass migration crisis.

Austria and Denmark believe a hardline approach is needed to stop economic migrants making perilous journeys to Europe in such huge numbers.

With EU talks on migration plagued by in-fighting, leaders in the two countries are pushing ahead with their own plan to set up camps outside the bloc.

Danish prime minister Lars Rasmussen said that the camp should be somewhere ‘not particularly attractive’ to prevent migrants from travelling farther into Europe.

The move is an attempt to stop those not entitled to refugee protection from ‘asylum shopping’ – when migrants apply for protection in several EU countries.

Mr Rasmussen said: ‘It [the camp] would be in a country that isn’t on the migrants’ or the human traffickers’ list of preferred destinations.’

A country has not yet been chosen but officials said the initial plan could involve a deal being struck with a state in the west Balkans, such as Albania or Macedonia.

Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz has made overhauling the bloc’s approach to immigration a priority, with Vienna taking over the EU’s revolving presidency next month.

An EU diplomat last night described the idea as ‘magical thinking’ and said that it would require changes to EU asylum rules.

It comes as EU countries are locked in a bitter row over how to change the bloc’s regulations on asylum.