EU set to assess asylum claims on African soil

Brussels is planning to set up migrant processing centres in Africa to reduce the number of asylum-seekers arriving in Europe.

Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron prepare for the EU meeting. Picture: AFP

The EU is planning to set up ­migrant processing centres in ­Africa to reduce the number of asylum-seekers arriving in ­Europe.

A leaked European Council paper prepared for the EU leaders’ summit next week asks for work to begin on “disembarkation platforms” in regions such as northern Africa. Officials would assess asylum requests there, before migrants set foot in the EU.

The migrant crisis has brought populists to power in Rome and threatened to unseat German chancellor Angela Merkel. Italy’s new government has taken a tough stance, saying it will not ­become “Europe’s refugee camp”.

“Such platforms should provide for rapid processing to distinguish between economic migrants and those in need of international protection, and reduce the incentive to embark on perilous journeys,” the EU document states.

Disputes over the legality of the idea have held it up in the past but it has new momentum with Italy and Austria keen to move asylum processing offshore, or at least offer an alternative to ­migrants having to pay smugglers and make treacherous journeys to Europe.

The leaked EU paper will help Mrs Merkel, whose coalition is being torn apart by the issue. Yesterday she received support from French President Emmanuel Mac­ron, who pledged to help find a “European response” to the ­crisis. Mr Macron said France agreed with the need for tougher border controls, which Mrs Merkel is being forced to ­implement under threat of revolt by her Bavarian allies in government.

Mr Macron promised to push for better enforcement of the continent’s ailing asylum and immigration system after talks in Germany aimed at starting a “new chapter” of EU reform to show it can respond to voters’ concerns.

The two leaders, meeting at Mrs Merkel’s country residence near Berlin, agreed on a series of measures to strengthen the eurozone. They also set out a wish list of other EU reforms on defence, migration and climate change, as well as a push on Franco-German tax harmonisation.

Mr Macron was asked whether France would take back asylum-seekers rejected at the German border under plans drawn up by German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. The plans almost collapsed Mrs Merkel’s coalition until she agreed to seek EU agreement over the next two weeks.

“France and Germany will ensure that those who are registered in a Schengen-zone country can be taken back as quickly as possible to the country where they were registered,” Mr Macron said, standing alongside Mrs Merkel.

“We will make progress to achieve concrete results in European migration policies … we will work together at a solution at the level of various governments and states that are affected,” he said.

Most of the migration measures were short on detail, however, and have been stuck in the EU machine for years, such as a common asylum system with harmonised criteria for accepting refugees, a “genuine EU border police force” and reform of the Dublin rules, which make the first country entered by asylum-seekers responsible for assessing their claims. A Franco-German document published yesterday also suggested much greater integration of EU foreign policy by scrapping national vetoes.

There was delight in Paris that Mrs Merkel finally swung behind the French call for a common budget for the 19 eurozone ­nations, but even this measure lacked detail.

Mr Macron said Europe, where populist right-wing forces are on the rise, faces “a moment of truth” and must seek common ground on migration as well as economic, political, financial, environmental and defence issues.

He said the EU had a “civilisational choice” between those who would allow Europe to “unravel” and “those who believe, as we do, that we can move Europe forward by making it both more sovereign and more united”.

Mrs Merkel refused to be drawn further into a row with US President Donald Trump, who claimed crime was rising in Germany because of migrants and Germans “are turning on their leadership”. She said this year’s crime figures — showing a drop of 10 per cent to the lowest levels for years — spoke for themselves.

The Times