"Send them home!": the far-right, euphoric about the approval of the law that accelerates the deportation of migrants

BrusselsThe European Union is in a hurry regarding migration and, at an unusual speed, the European Parliament has definitively ratified the regulation that will allow the installation of centers outside the community territory to deport immigrants, as the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has attempted in Albaniathe Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to Albania

The right and the far-right, who have a majority in the European Parliament, are the parliamentary groups that have most enthusiastically celebrated the express validation of the measure, which they have greeted with the cry of "Send them home!". And, conversely, the most progressive parties, such as the social democrats, the ecologists, and the Left, have opposed it overwhelmingly. As for the liberal group, they have voted in a divided manner.

However, in the European Parliament, voting discipline is more fluid than, for example, in the Parliament of Catalonia, and there are several delegations of national parties and MEPs who tend to vote in a different direction from that set by their parliamentary group's leadership. In this case, for example, the Danish socialists have voted in favour, and, in fact, the Prime Minister of Denmark, the social democrat Mette Frederiksen, is one of the main drivers of the measure.

Beyond deportation centers for immigrants, this measure also expands the list of countries it considers safe and, therefore, legalizes the deportation of people living irregularly in European member states. Brussels has already closed agreements with some of these third partners, such as Egypt or Tunisia, and migrants can be sent there, even if they originate from other areas and have no emotional or family ties to these countries. Several non-profit organizations have denounced that there are no guarantees that these countries will respect humanitarian and international law, and they recall that there have already been cases in the past where mistreatment of migrants has been reported.

The new regulation also opens the door for member states to carry out raids to locate immigrants living irregularly in the EU or migrants with deportation orders. Some NGOs and social democratic and left-wing MEPs have criticized that it opens the door to practices like those of the ICE under the Donald Trump administration.