Brussels plan for detention centres turning into farce
‘Everyone knows it is unworkable’
A BRUSSELS plan to build migrants detention centres within the EU descended into farce last night as European leaders lined up to refuse to host them.
The proposal was billed as an attempt to alleviate pressure on frontline Mediterranean countries, where the vast majority of migrants arrive.
But French president Emmanuel Macron said he would not host one of the ‘controlled centres’ and Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz mocked the prospect of one being built in his country.
Mr Macron said the secure centres would be reserved for Mediterranean countries at the forefront of key migrant routes, such as Malta, Italy, Spain and Greece.
‘France is not a country of first arrival,’ he said. ‘Some want to push us to that and I refused it.’
But the new Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, rejected Mr Macron’s suggestion that the asylum centres would be hosted in countries such as Italy. He said: ‘Macron was tired. I deny what he said.’ On being asked if he would host a migrant centre in Austria, Mr Kurz said: ‘Of course not... we are not a first arrivals country, unless people jump from parachutes.’
The detention centre proposal was part of a wide-ranging strategy agreed by EU leaders on Thursday night with the aim of ending a brewing immigration row.
But key aspects of the plan unravelled within hours of being agreed and it was dismissed by critics.
Meanwhile, EU diplomats last night poured scorn on the migration deal. One said: ‘It has kept everybody happy, but parts of it are an obvious fudge.’
Another said: ‘This is a bit of paper that will never become reality. It is a mess and will discredit the EU because it is unworkable and everyone knows it is unworkable.’
Nonetheless the deal appeared to have brought Angela Merkel’s political career back from the brink of collapse.
The embattled German Chancellor heralded the agreement as an ‘important step’ after it was thrashed out over a marathon dinner in Brussels that ran into the early hours of yesterday.
However, the proposal to build migrant detention centres across the EU where asylum requests would be fast-tracked sparked a war of words between the leaders.
The centres will only be opened if EU member states agree to them, and governments can also refuse to host asylum seekers deemed in need of protection. The opt-outs are a major concession to hardline member states in eastern Europe, who would bristle at the possibility of hosting a migrant facility.
Countries including Hungary and Poland have been locked in battle with Brussels for the past year after refusing to take part in a scheme to host refugees who have arrived in other countries.
Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic yesterday all described the latest agreement as a ‘victory’, suggesting that it had fulfilled their hardline agenda.
The new migration plan was signed off by leaders after heated discussions stirred up by Mr Conte, who threatened to scrap any agreement that failed to meet his demands.
Diplomats accused the political novice, whose government has vowed to take a hardline immigration approach, of ‘holding a knife to leaders’ throats’.
Italy is pushing for an overhaul of EU rules, believing it has shouldered the burden of the migration crisis after receiving 650,000 asylum seekers in four years.
After nine hours of talks on migration finished at 3am yesterday, Mr Conte waved a paper copy of the agreement in the air and said: ‘Today Italy is no longer alone. We are satisfied.’
But European Council president Donald Tusk sounded a note of caution, warning that ‘it is far too early to talk about a success... This is the easiest part of the task compared to what awaits us when we start implementing it.’