European lawmakers voted Thursday to ease the setting up of new migrant detention centers outside the European Union, known as “return hubs.”
Members of the European Parliament voted 389-206 in favor, with 32 abstentions. Right-wing parties made an alliance with far-right groups that they had previously shunned to pass the measure, while parties of the left and center voted against.
Any EU nation can now negotiate on its own or in small coalitions to deport migrants not to their home countries but to facilities yet to be built outside the 27-nation bloc.
Already, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Denmark have entered into negotiations with governments mainly in Africa to host sites to hold migrants denied asylum.
Far-right parties in Europe have praised the deportation policies of US President Donald Trump and have called for the EU to adopt a similar approach.
Belgium’s far-right Vlaams Belang party and Germany’s far-right AfD party both said in January that they want to form a police group focused on finding and deporting migrants akin to US efforts.
However, human rights groups say migrants are being brutalized and pushed back illegally at EU borders, while legal protections are increasingly being hollowed out. [AP]
Europe is now officially running neo-Nazi policies on immigration. Rejected asylum seekers probably should be sent back to their country of origin, other than in special circumstances (such as children in a local school). If they are not, it is either because the relevant State is completely incompetent or that they cannot be returned to a dangerous country. In the latter case, they should have been given asylum anyway.
The fact that the European Far Right are praising the horror show that is going on in the USA should alert people to the reality: these are neo-Nazis who hate all immigrants (legal included), all LGBTQ people, and anyone who might be a little different from the average in that country. Moreover, they have no qualms about murdering their own citizens in order to implement their policies of hate and sheer nastiness.
Nicely put but unfortunately there are less and less people who agree with our view. Social media, press and politicians are sewing hate and fear everywhere and profiting from it. The world is going in a dangerous direction.