Justice Minister Against EU Plans for Return Centers

Justice Minister Anna Sporrer (SPÖ) wants to tie the repatriation centers for migrants planned by the EU Commission to strict conditions. She wants to exclude African countries by making membership in the Council of Europe a requirement, as she said on Wednesday according to the Ö1-Morning Journal.

Repatriation centers only in Council of Europe countries

"Such repatriation centers can of course only be established in countries that can guarantee this," said Sporrer with regard to human rights. It would be possible to establish such centers in Council of Europe countries outside the EU. These include, for example, Turkey and the Western Balkan states.

The responsible EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner contradicted Sporrer's argument. He said in the Ö1-Morning Journal that the EU and its member states would of course also negotiate with third countries that are outside the Council of Europe. This is "self-evident, because there are also third countries there that uphold human rights."

Criticism from FPÖ MP Steger

The Freedom Party EU MP Petra Steger called the EU plan to establish return centers insufficient in a statement. These would only be optionally provided, minors and their families are explicitly excluded, and the proposed monitoring mechanism would "predictably become a pawn of political instrumentalization by left-wing NGOs." There can be no talk of a real system change in migration policy.

The ÖVP European MP Lukas Mandl recommended Sporrer "not to stand in the way of European solutions. It is not about ideologies, but about practical solutions. Of course, there are also safe third countries that do not belong to the Council of Europe," said Mandl in a statement.

(APA/Red)

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