EU interior ministers discuss joint solutions for forced returns

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt floated the idea on Tuesday that a smaller group of EU states could join forces to organize return centres for rejected asylum seekers in countries outside the European Union.

The aim behind the idea is to return rejected asylum seekers to their countries of origin more quickly.

Arriving at a meeting with his EU counterparts in Copenhagen, Dobrindt said there were possibilities outside Europe to create such centres together with partner countries.

“We want to formalize this goal,” Dobrindt told reporters.

Both a joint EU-wide approach and an initiative of individual EU member countries are conceivable, said the German minister. “I don’t want to rule out the possibility of Germany joining others,” he said.

In addition to the return of rejected asylum seekers, the talks in Copenhagen will focus on measures against irregular migration and the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking. Member states are also eyeing up a stronger role for the border protection agency Frontex.

Dobrindt had already advocated a tougher approach to migration policy at a meeting in Bavaria last Friday with interior ministers from Austria, France, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic, including more consistent deportations, even to Syria and Afghanistan.

Beyond migration issues, the ministers plan to discuss how the European Union can be made more resilient to a range of crises such as natural disasters or issues such as IT outages.

Source: dpa