Should irregular migrants be deported to return hubs outside the EU? Does externalising the management of illegal migrants comply with EU human rights standards?

>As Europe wants to reduce irregular migration and speed up the return process for those whose asylum application has been rejected, the European Commission has proposed a Common European System for Returns.

>Currently, return rates stand at around 20%, **a figure deemed insufficient by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen**.
The proposal includes the possibility of establishing return hubs in third countries, based on agreements concluded either bilaterally or at the European level.

>However, the implementation and legal feasibility of such agreements remain complex. The Italy-Albania deal is an example of this.

>**More than 100 human rights organisations across Europe have warned that the externalisation of migration policies is likely to result in a grave pattern of human rights violations.**

>Egyptian asylum seeker Moetaz arrived in October 2024 to reunite with his father Atef (61), who came to Italy 20 years ago. Moetaz, 28, crossed the Mediterranean from Libya, **where he says he was detained and tortured.**

>After being rescued in international waters, he became one of the first asylum seekers sent by Italy directly to a reception centre in Albania.
“Between the beach of Lampedusa and me, there were no more than 200 metres”, said Moetaz.

>“A translator came and told us we would be transferred to Albania. He said: ‘You will apply for asylum. If it’s accepted, you will go to Italy. If it’s not accepted, they will decide on your case: expulsion or prison.”
Moetaz remained in Albania for only a week. The Court of Rome rejected his detention, stating it was impossible to recognise Moetaz’s country of origin as “safe”.

>His case has exposed the flaws of an entire system aiming to externalise the management of asylum seekers in Italy – a question now being addressed by the European Court of Justice.

>Moetaz’s lawyer believes that accelerated procedures for migrants considered “non-vulnerable” and coming from so-called “safe countries” violate the Italian Constitution.

>”From a human rights perspective, detaining a person in a third country — today Albania, but tomorrow it could be Tunisia, Niger, or elsewhere — means denying them the ability to exercise their fundamental rights,” said Gennaro Santoro, Moetaz’s lawyer.

>“Even in the case of Albania, which is a stone’s throw away from Italy, I was unable to contact my client before the hearing. **Only during the hearing, I found out he had been tortured in Libya and that he was fleeing Egypt due to persecution.”**

>In 2018 the European Commission declared that externally located return centres were unlawful. Critics argue that today, concepts once associated with the far right are increasingly becoming part of mainstream EU policy.