06-22-2018, 10:41 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-23-2018, 08:17 AM by John J. Xenakis.)
*** 23-Jun-18 World View -- Desperate European Union considers 'Disembarkation Platforms' for migrants
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Desperate European Union considers 'Disembarkation Platforms' for migrants
****
![[Image: g180622b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180622b.jpg)
Migrants in the Mediterranean on Thursday (dpa)
Both the United States and the European Union are in the midst of
total political chaos over the issue of migration, and are desperately
looking for ways to slow the potentially massive flood of migrants
from Central America and Africa, as we described a couple of days ago.
In America, the administration has been experimenting with abandoning
its "catch and release" program and keeping illegal immigrants in
detention centers. This continues to be a massively divisive issue,
especially related to the question of separating children from their
parents. But there has been no clear statement that this will work,
especially as courts and detention centers become flooded and
overcrowded.
The Council of the European Union is considering a similar idea,
though implemented differently. Migrants would be kept in detention
centers, but the centers would not be on European Union soil.
Instead, they would be in so-called "Disembarkation Platforms" that
would be located in non-EU countries.
According to the EU draft document
<QUOTE>"1. The European Council reconfirms that a
precondition for a functioning EU policy on migration is effective
control of the external borders. Since 2015 a number of measures
have been put in place to achieve that objective. As a result, the
number of detected illegal border crossings into the EU has been
brought down by 95% from its peak in October 2015.
2. The European Council is determined to continue and reinforce
this policy to prevent a return to the uncontrolled flows of 2015
and to further reduce illegal immigration on all
routes. Specifically as regards the Central Mediterranean route,
efforts to stop smugglers operating out of Libya should be further
intensified. The EU will continue to stand by Italy in this
respect, and will step up its support for the Libyan Coastguard,
coastal and Southern communities, humane reception conditions, and
voluntary humanitarian returns. ...
4. In order to establish a more predictable framework for dealing
with those who nevertheless set out to sea and are rescued in
Search And Rescue Operations, the European Council supports the
development of the concept of regional disembarkation platforms in
close cooperation with UNHCR and IOM. 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."<END QUOTE>
Since there is no firm proposal, but only a draft document, possible
hosting countries for these disembarkation platforms have not been
officially named. However, unnamed EU officials have said that
Albania (which is a European country but not a European Union count)
and Tunisia have been suggested.
However, in response to a query about whether Albania would be a host,
the European Council responded, "No. The regions are not yet
identified as we are only talking about possibly exploring this
concept."
Tunisia has already rejected a similar proposal when it was made a few
months ago. Tunisia's ambassador said:
<QUOTE>"The proposal was put to the head of our government a
few months ago during a visit to Germany, it was also asked by
Italy, and the answer is clear: no!
We have neither the capacity nor the means to organize these
detention centers. We are already suffering a lot from what is
happening in Libya, which has been the effect of European
action."<END QUOTE>
African countries that might serve as hosts include Algeria, Egypt,
Libya, Tunisia, Niger and Morocco. However, Dimitris Avramopoulos,
the European commissioner for migration, said that no African country
has yet agreed to host migration center. Politico (EU) and European Council Draft Proposal (PDF) and Balkan Insight and Guardian (London)
UPDATE: A leaked plan by the US Navy reveals plans to construct
sprawling detention centers for tens of thousands of immigrants on
military bases in California, Alabama and Arizona. Time
****
**** European Union very badly split on migration as Sunday's summit approaches
****
Italy and Malta are refusing to take in 226 migrants on the
Mediterranean rescue ship Lifeline, thus precipitating the in a
continuing series of crises in Europe on migration. As of Friday
evening, the Lifeline is stranded in the middle of the Mediterranean
with no place to go.
Italy asked Malta to take in the Lifeline migrants. Malta refused,
saying that it was too small a country to handle a large number of
migrants. Italy said that Malta's response was "inhumane."
The EU has called for an emergency mini-summit meeting to be held in
Brussels tomorrow (Sunday, June 24) to find a way to handle the
migration issue, in advance of a major EU summit to be held on June
28-29.
However, Sunday's mini-summit became controversial almost as soon as
it was announced. Italy's prime minister Giuseppe Conte had indicated
that he wouldn't be attending, but he agreed to attend after Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to him and apparently begged him to
attend.
However, other anti-immigrant states including the Visegrad Group
(Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) are staying away
from Sunday's meeting.
At a Visegrad meeting in Budapest on Thursday Poland's Prime Minister
Mateusz Morawiecki stated that "we don't belong to this migrant-loving
group of friends." That's an interesting statement, since it sounds
like he's saying, "We don't belong to the European Union."
Even if Italy is represented at the meeting, the country's new
far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini has said that Italy will
not be pushed around anymore.
Angela Markel is facing the collapse of her governing coalition, and
with it her entire government, unless she can come up with an EU
agreement within seven days -- and in particular, an agreement with
Italy.
The crucial issue is that Merkel's political opponent, Horst Seehofer,
is demanding that Germany not take in any more migrants, or, if a new
migrant arrives, he be sent back to the first EU country he entered.
This is completely unacceptable to Italy, since that the migrants that
come from Africa would almost always be sent back to Italy.
Horst Seehofer is not only the leader of the other party in Merkel's
governing coalition, he's also Germany's Interior Minister. Seehofer
has to power to issue an executive order that rejects refugees at the
Germany border, and he's making preparations to issue that order,
which is opposed by Merkel.
If Merkel fails to reach an agreement at next week's EU summit, then
Seehofer will issue the executive order. That will be in direct
conflict with Merkel's policy, so Merkel will have to fire Seehofer as
Interior Minister. That will cause the governing coalition to
collapse.
Whether or not Merkel's government collapses, the EU will face an
existential crisis this summer if, as expected, hundreds of thousands
of migrants cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. Italy will not
permit rescue ships to disembark, meaning that these ships will then
head for France, Spain and Holland. In addition, Italy's new
government wants to deport half a million undocumented migrants, many
of whom are housed in squalid reception centers. More than 600,000
have reached Italy from Libya in the past four years. Euro News and BBC and AFP and Euro Intelligence
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, European Union, disembarkation platforms,
Albania, Tunisia, Germany, Italy, Dimitris Avramopoulos,
Malta, Lifeline, Angela Merkel, Horst Seehofer,
Giuseppe Conte, Matteo Salvini,
Visegrad Group, Hungary, Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki,
Slovakia, Czech Republic
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Desperate European Union considers 'Disembarkation Platforms' for migrants
- European Union very badly split on migration as Sunday's summit approaches
****
**** Desperate European Union considers 'Disembarkation Platforms' for migrants
****
Migrants in the Mediterranean on Thursday (dpa)
Both the United States and the European Union are in the midst of
total political chaos over the issue of migration, and are desperately
looking for ways to slow the potentially massive flood of migrants
from Central America and Africa, as we described a couple of days ago.
In America, the administration has been experimenting with abandoning
its "catch and release" program and keeping illegal immigrants in
detention centers. This continues to be a massively divisive issue,
especially related to the question of separating children from their
parents. But there has been no clear statement that this will work,
especially as courts and detention centers become flooded and
overcrowded.
The Council of the European Union is considering a similar idea,
though implemented differently. Migrants would be kept in detention
centers, but the centers would not be on European Union soil.
Instead, they would be in so-called "Disembarkation Platforms" that
would be located in non-EU countries.
According to the EU draft document
<QUOTE>"1. The European Council reconfirms that a
precondition for a functioning EU policy on migration is effective
control of the external borders. Since 2015 a number of measures
have been put in place to achieve that objective. As a result, the
number of detected illegal border crossings into the EU has been
brought down by 95% from its peak in October 2015.
2. The European Council is determined to continue and reinforce
this policy to prevent a return to the uncontrolled flows of 2015
and to further reduce illegal immigration on all
routes. Specifically as regards the Central Mediterranean route,
efforts to stop smugglers operating out of Libya should be further
intensified. The EU will continue to stand by Italy in this
respect, and will step up its support for the Libyan Coastguard,
coastal and Southern communities, humane reception conditions, and
voluntary humanitarian returns. ...
4. In order to establish a more predictable framework for dealing
with those who nevertheless set out to sea and are rescued in
Search And Rescue Operations, the European Council supports the
development of the concept of regional disembarkation platforms in
close cooperation with UNHCR and IOM. 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."<END QUOTE>
Since there is no firm proposal, but only a draft document, possible
hosting countries for these disembarkation platforms have not been
officially named. However, unnamed EU officials have said that
Albania (which is a European country but not a European Union count)
and Tunisia have been suggested.
However, in response to a query about whether Albania would be a host,
the European Council responded, "No. The regions are not yet
identified as we are only talking about possibly exploring this
concept."
Tunisia has already rejected a similar proposal when it was made a few
months ago. Tunisia's ambassador said:
<QUOTE>"The proposal was put to the head of our government a
few months ago during a visit to Germany, it was also asked by
Italy, and the answer is clear: no!
We have neither the capacity nor the means to organize these
detention centers. We are already suffering a lot from what is
happening in Libya, which has been the effect of European
action."<END QUOTE>
African countries that might serve as hosts include Algeria, Egypt,
Libya, Tunisia, Niger and Morocco. However, Dimitris Avramopoulos,
the European commissioner for migration, said that no African country
has yet agreed to host migration center. Politico (EU) and European Council Draft Proposal (PDF) and Balkan Insight and Guardian (London)
UPDATE: A leaked plan by the US Navy reveals plans to construct
sprawling detention centers for tens of thousands of immigrants on
military bases in California, Alabama and Arizona. Time
****
**** European Union very badly split on migration as Sunday's summit approaches
****
Italy and Malta are refusing to take in 226 migrants on the
Mediterranean rescue ship Lifeline, thus precipitating the in a
continuing series of crises in Europe on migration. As of Friday
evening, the Lifeline is stranded in the middle of the Mediterranean
with no place to go.
Italy asked Malta to take in the Lifeline migrants. Malta refused,
saying that it was too small a country to handle a large number of
migrants. Italy said that Malta's response was "inhumane."
The EU has called for an emergency mini-summit meeting to be held in
Brussels tomorrow (Sunday, June 24) to find a way to handle the
migration issue, in advance of a major EU summit to be held on June
28-29.
However, Sunday's mini-summit became controversial almost as soon as
it was announced. Italy's prime minister Giuseppe Conte had indicated
that he wouldn't be attending, but he agreed to attend after Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to him and apparently begged him to
attend.
However, other anti-immigrant states including the Visegrad Group
(Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) are staying away
from Sunday's meeting.
At a Visegrad meeting in Budapest on Thursday Poland's Prime Minister
Mateusz Morawiecki stated that "we don't belong to this migrant-loving
group of friends." That's an interesting statement, since it sounds
like he's saying, "We don't belong to the European Union."
Even if Italy is represented at the meeting, the country's new
far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini has said that Italy will
not be pushed around anymore.
Angela Markel is facing the collapse of her governing coalition, and
with it her entire government, unless she can come up with an EU
agreement within seven days -- and in particular, an agreement with
Italy.
The crucial issue is that Merkel's political opponent, Horst Seehofer,
is demanding that Germany not take in any more migrants, or, if a new
migrant arrives, he be sent back to the first EU country he entered.
This is completely unacceptable to Italy, since that the migrants that
come from Africa would almost always be sent back to Italy.
Horst Seehofer is not only the leader of the other party in Merkel's
governing coalition, he's also Germany's Interior Minister. Seehofer
has to power to issue an executive order that rejects refugees at the
Germany border, and he's making preparations to issue that order,
which is opposed by Merkel.
If Merkel fails to reach an agreement at next week's EU summit, then
Seehofer will issue the executive order. That will be in direct
conflict with Merkel's policy, so Merkel will have to fire Seehofer as
Interior Minister. That will cause the governing coalition to
collapse.
Whether or not Merkel's government collapses, the EU will face an
existential crisis this summer if, as expected, hundreds of thousands
of migrants cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. Italy will not
permit rescue ships to disembark, meaning that these ships will then
head for France, Spain and Holland. In addition, Italy's new
government wants to deport half a million undocumented migrants, many
of whom are housed in squalid reception centers. More than 600,000
have reached Italy from Libya in the past four years. Euro News and BBC and AFP and Euro Intelligence
Related Articles:
- Europe and North America overwhelmed by growing migration crisis (21-Jun-2018)
- Italy's migration policy opens up battle lines within the EU (17-Jun-2018)
- Italy begs for help after 12,000 migrants arrive in four days (30-Jun-2017)
- EU migrant crisis moves to Italy as Austria begins closing border (13-Apr-2016)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, European Union, disembarkation platforms,
Albania, Tunisia, Germany, Italy, Dimitris Avramopoulos,
Malta, Lifeline, Angela Merkel, Horst Seehofer,
Giuseppe Conte, Matteo Salvini,
Visegrad Group, Hungary, Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki,
Slovakia, Czech Republic
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
