Sanchez flatly rejects the idea of ​​deportation centers outside the EU that Brussels is exploring. spain

Pedro Sánchez clearly rejects the idea, which was promoted by Italy and now rejected by the European Commission in case of interest from other countries, of creating deportation centers outside the EU, so that immigrants could be sent there. While they await a decision on whether they should be deported or not. They have the right to asylum. This idea, which has been strongly criticized by organizations supporting immigrants and defending human rights, is being put into practice in Albania by the far-right Italian government of Georgia Meloni, which is supported by a large part of the traditional European right. Getting the EPP and even some social democrats like the British Keir Starmer.

The Spanish opposition leader, Alberto Núñez Fizeau, recently traveled to Rome and defended Meloni’s policy. According to executive sources, Sanchez, on the contrary, shows his radical opposition and is preparing to express it at the EU summit starting this Thursday in Brussels.

In Moncloa he believes that this Italian solution is not only a serious attack on the human rights of immigrants, who live overcrowded in another country while awaiting their expulsion, but that its costs are also too high, as seen in the Italian case. going. And it doesn’t even solve the underlying problem, because once your planned stay ends, if your country does not accept repatriation, as is usually the case in most cases, you will have to decide where to go. Will go because you cannot remain in exile camp indefinitely.

The government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, was clear in rejecting the idea, which is now not only Meloni’s, but the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is exploring expanding it to other countries within the framework of political . A clear rightward trend in European politics after the last elections in June. Sanchez is willing to remain in the minority on the issue if necessary, but her defense of a more progressive speech on immigration is fundamental and she already presented it at a congressional plenary session focused on the issue last week. Government sources indicate that the position Sánchez will defend at the summit is clear: the immediate application of the migration and asylum treaty, which he says is considered by some to be dead even though it has not yet been developed, and an end to deportation centres. Clear rejection of.

Spain does not want to say that it is even ready to use its right of veto if other countries want to explore this route of deportation centers, because negotiations are ongoing and La Moncloa is confident that it will reach such a level at the summit. Will not go away. Sanchez’s proposal is therefore to fully implement the treaty before thinking about other solutions. In addition, he also demands that the package agreed with Mauritania when he traveled there with Ursula von der Leyen be implemented. This country, which receives thousands of refugees from Mali, is currently the main departure point for Cayucos arriving in the Canary Islands.

“Spain expresses its position against (deportation centers outside the EU). We will continue to defend the humanitarian application of the Migration and Asylum Treaty, we are going to bet on safe migration routes, with transit countries and against the mafias that exploit these people. With this policy we have already managed to reduce arrivals by 40%, “Alegría assured after the Council of Ministers when asked about this initiative coming from Meloni, but von der Leyen is now incorporating it .

In this rejection, the coalition government of PSOE and Summar can also count on the vast majority of its parliamentary colleagues, who criticized Meloni’s idea last week. Both the PNV and Bildu, ERC, Podemos, Compromise, BNG or the Canarian coalition rejected this approach, and the only one who did not speak out clearly is Juntes, who has a tough stance on immigration.

At that plenary session last week, Sánchez had already made it clear that he was unwilling to follow the wave of hard-line immigration discussion that other European social democratic leaders, such as German Olaf Scholz, are giving in to pressure from the far right. Correct. Scholz has ordered the reinstatement of border controls and stricter repatriation policies within the EU. In contrast, the head of the Spanish government gave a convincing speech in Congress with a number of figures demonstrating that, without immigration, Europe is doomed to demographic decline and economic failure.

Sánchez believes that European progressives, increasingly weak and with fewer governments, must fight to ensure that the xenophobic discourse of the extreme right and part of the traditional right does not triumph, which, according to him, is fueled by false data. And based on unrealistic. For example, according to a recent survey by the 40dB Institute, this perception leads citizens in Spain to believe that 30% of the population there are immigrants, when in fact they are 18%. For the country. Sánchez also rejected the connection between immigration and crime made by the extreme right with the statistics and appealed to Spain’s history as a country of migrants to try to prevent xenophobia from entering the country, as he Has already taken hold in other European countries.

The President also promised integration plans to avoid the conflicts that are being observed in some neighborhoods and above all not to eliminate the ghetto problems and lack of cohesion that there are in other countries, much less in Spain.