Latest news with #KaareDybvad
Euractiv
7 days ago
- Politics
- Euractiv
EU's migration Zeitenwende must include all, no opt-outs, Danish minister says
Kaare Dybvad, Danish minister for integration and immigration, hopes Denmark's Council presidency can push returns forward, downplaying Dutch hopes of getting their own opt-out in an interview with Euractiv. Since Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen seized power in 2019, Dybvad has served as minister in her different governments and now holds the migration portfolio. As such, for the next half a year, Dybvad will sit at the end of the table when EU migration ministers meet. On Tuesday, he hosted his European counterparts and EU migration chief Magnus Brunner for an informal gathering in Copenhagen. What follows is an edited transcript. Denmark has been a vocal backer of 'return hubs.' What exactly is your position, and how widely supported is this idea across the EU? Dybvad: We support the return hubs as a concept. I'd say most European countries, at least the ones I've heard from, support return hubs in some form. Of course, there are concerns – especially about safeguarding human rights and monitoring conditions. But broadly, this approach is seen as a way to ensure that more people are actually returned. Is there any progress on where these return hubs might be located, or which third countries are in play? That's tricky. You don't get the countries before you get the deal. If you want these arrangements, you need to negotiate first – not announce names in advance. But I don't see it as harder than other agreements already out there. The Italian-Albanian deal, for example, shows it can be done. If the EU negotiates as a bloc, it has leverage. More broadly, there seems to be a shift across the EU toward stricter migration policy. Do you see this as sudden or something more gradual? It's been a gradual change. When I started three years ago, Austria was basically the only one supporting our line. Now that's changing – and the biggest shift came from Germany. Their new government openly supports abolishing the connection criteria. That's key to making third-country arrangements legal under EU law. Denmark has had an opt-out on justice and home affairs since the 90s – what role does that play in Denmark's position as a broker on migration issues? I've had that conversation with the former Dutch asylum minister, Marjolein Faber. She was very interested in getting one for the Netherlands. But honestly, I don't think the opt-out does a lot. There are areas where we don't vote or get affected by decisions, sure. But when it comes to real migration outcomes – lower numbers, better control – it's more about efficient return policy and coordination with neighbours. That matters more than any opt-out. At the European level, in the Council with the EU countries, how do you see Danish migration policy affecting other countries? I don't know if our migration policy directly affects other countries, but I think that we proved that you can, from a centre-left perspective, handle these problems, that you can get democratic control of migration policy. And I hope, and this is also what some of my colleagues say, that this inspires others to try to get better control, and to do it from a standardised and left position instead of letting far-right parties run with this agenda. Do you see other centre-left parties, your colleagues in S&D, adopting your stance on this? Aren't you pretty alone on the centre-left? I'm seeing a lot of centre-left parties, social democratic parties, and governments that are huge in this policy. In Austria, you have the SPÖ; in Germany, you have the SPD in government with the Christian Democrats. In Belgium, the Flemish social democrats are part of the coalition government. In Sweden, you'll see the opposition social democrats now also changing their policy. So I think I see it in quite a lot of places right now. And of course, many of the Central and Eastern European social democrats also have quite a strict policy. The Maltese government, which is social democratic, has also introduced some very strict migration policies. There are a lot of sovereign democrats and governments in Europe right now implementing some of the policies that we have tried to implement. But in the European Parliament, the Socialists are led by the Spanish delegation, one of the biggest, and far from your line. How do you get them on board? That's going to be a discussion in the coming half year, of course, from our side. I hope people will be reasonable, and that at least the delegations from different countries will look at their own countries and see what is working, and how we're actually implementing policy at the domestic level. And I'd say for the Spanish side – if I could get some kind of agreement like Spain has with Morocco, we would very much like that. I think there are some very effective migration policies that have been introduced by the Sánchez government – and at least from my side as a minister, I'm very jealous of that. (mm)
Times
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
EU wants UN backing for Rwanda-style migrant ‘return hubs'
The European Union is seeking United Nations support for plans to forcibly deport failed asylum seekers or illegal migrants to 'return hubs' outside Europe, to avoid the legal challenges that sank Britain's Rwanda scheme. European interior ministers will hear presentations from the UN on the conditions for its refugee agency to take part in, and approve, deportation or 'place of safety' centres in countries such as Tunisia, Mauritania, Jordan, Egypt or Uganda. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, last year called for an exploration of return hubs in a letter to the EU's national leaders, citing a deal between Italy and Albania as a possible model. Kaare Dybvad, the Danish immigration minister, who is chairing the talks in Copenhagen, stressed that the plans were urgently needed to 'get control of migration flow back into the democratic sphere', as European elections show increasing gains for nationalist and populist parties. 'The European asylum system is broken and we need innovative solutions,' he said before the talks. 'We are under pressure. We need to return people faster, we need to make innovative solutions and agreements outside of the EU.' Up to 80 per cent of failed asylum seekers — half of those who apply — who were ordered to leave countries across Europe have not done so, including dangerous criminals and terror suspects who have gone on to carry out attacks. While the EU is moving towards plans similar to the British Rwanda model — of setting up centres outside Europe to deter asylum seekers — governments want to ensure that plans are legally watertight, especially after judicial challenges to the Italian scheme in Albania. Crucially, under these plans, migrants housed in the 'return hubs' would already have been refused asylum — unlike those covered in Britain's Rwanda plan or Italy's Albanian asylum centres. 'It is part of the legislative work that we have to do now and to make sure it is possible,' said Dybvad. 'Return hubs are about returning people who are already rejected as asylum seekers. Reception centres as in Albania … as in Rwanda, that is about processing asylum claims. We need to make our own European model for these solutions.' On top of deportations, the EU is additionally looking at 'places of safety' centres for temporary reception and screening of refugees. UN involvement is seen as vital to making these proposals legally watertight and preventing judges from striking down plans. A 2023 ruling in the British Supreme Court against the Rwanda scheme followed a warning from the UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, that it potentially breached the international conventions that set rules for asylum. A diplomat said: 'It is about showing that this is not a taboo with the UN and that we can work with them to make it more legally viable.' The UNHCR has not ruled out supporting the EU deportation centres but has asked for many legal safeguards that would water down and restrict the powers that national governments would have to detain and deport failed asylum seekers. Under a new EU return directive, tabled in March, deportations will be carried out either to the migrant's country of origin, or a country they transited through as well as a new option of a 'return hub' — an idea that was previously ruled out as illegal. The UN is opposed to EU proposals that failed asylum seekers or foreign criminals will no longer be able to have their deportations suspended while their appeal is heard, a loophole that often allows people to disappear upon their release. Bruno Retailleau, the French interior minister, warned that the status quo was not an option. He said: 'Today our states are totally disarmed, especially for forced removals. Throughout Europe, whether governments are conservative or social democrat, all the peoples have the same demand: control of mass immigration that has completely escaped us.'
Euractiv
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
Denmark pushes offshore asylum to hit smugglers' profit
Externalisation of asylum procedures is the best way to "break the business model" of smugglers, Danish Immigration Minister Kaare Dybvad said on Tuesday, ahead of the informal meeting of EU migration ministers in Copenhagen. Asylum processing "is not necessarily something that has to happen inside the EU," he said, framing migration flows as a system run by "organisations that make billions every year." On the table: the Commission's return regulation and safe third country proposals, files that could redefine EU asylum. Under the new rules, asylum seekers could be deported to countries they passed through – or never even entered – if a deal exists. The mandatory "connection" requirement would be scrapped, with national laws left to decide what counts. "What they sell is a product and the product is access to European countries," Dybvad said of smugglers. "If we devalue that product and make it impossible for them, it will be much more difficult to transfer people." The solution, he said, lies in striking agreements with countries outside the EU, a key topic at this informal meeting, which will shape migration priorities after the summer break. Earlier, Poland's Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk confirmed there are 'ideas' for setting up new return hubs in third countries, though he didn't name potential locations. The often-invoked Italy-Albania asylum deal remains in limbo, but it is facing mounting legal scrutiny. The latest blow came from Italy's supreme court, which has called it potentially unconstitutional, reigniting tensions between the judiciary and Meloni's government. "The European asylum system is broken, we need innovative solutions," Dybvad added. Asked about Spain's well-known reservations on return hubs, the minister said, "I think it's too early to say if Spain should be in or out," adding, "It's one of the discussions today and in the coming months." He acknowledged differing views across member states but noted that "there's a quite big majority of member states now supporting innovative solutions." Rejecting the idea of a north-south split, he stressed, "I don't see it as a conflict between north and south. I just see it as a conflict between different points of view and the relation to how we handle migration in Europe." (mm)
Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Nordic states may commit to deportation hub scheme, says Danish minister
Nordic countries concerned about high levels of migration could join together to set up deportation sites outside the European Union, Danish immigration minister Kaare Dybvad has said. Mr Dybvad said Asylum seekers whose claims for protection were rejected would be sent to the sites. EU governments are debating the controversial idea of sending people whose asylum claims have been rejected to 'return hubs' outside the bloc's borders, until they can be repatriated. The proposal to create deportation hubs, part of an increasingly rightward shift in EU migration policy, has been fiercely criticised by Amnesty International and other humanitarian organisations. Mr Dybvad said he was hopeful EU states would back the idea. However, a coalition of capitals could move forward on their own, he said. 'I'd rather have it on a European level, but if that's not possible I think for example in the Nordic countries we could agree on this kind of arrangement,' he said. The proposal effectively envisages countries in North Africa or the western Balkans hosting deportation sites as part of an agreement made with the EU. Denmark's centre-left prime minister Mette Frederiksen has adopted a hard line on asylum, which sets the tone in the government made up of her Social Democrats party and its two liberal coalition partners. Speaking to journalists in Copenhagen, Mr Dybvad said any deportation facilities the EU set up in countries outside its borders should not become 'prisons'. Mr Dybvad said return hubs would deter migrants from travelling to Europe to seek asylum if their claim for protection had little chance of success. The Danish government recently called for an 'open-minded' debate about rulings coming from the European Court of Human Rights, with the backing of eight other EU states, including Italy, Poland, Austria and Belgium. A joint letter from the group criticised court decisions that had made it harder for countries to expel 'foreign criminals'. Denmark and other governments were looking for more leeway to deport migrants who had committed 'violent crimes,' Mr Dybvad said. Separately, the Danish government is stepping up efforts to encourage some of the 45,000 refugees who fled the Syrian civil war to return home, now that the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad has collapsed. Officials have devised a scheme to offer families tens of thousands of euros to relocate back to Syria. About 800 or 900 families had previously shown some interest in the scheme over recent years, said the immigration minister. Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and several other states have been keen for Syrian refugees in Europe to be encouraged to move home. Denmark is assessing which regions in Syria could be considered safe for people to return to, Mr Dybvad said.
