EU considers immigrant transit camps in Africa

European Union officials reacted cautiously to a proposal to set up immigrant processing camps outside EU borders, possibly in Libya or Ukraine.

Justice and interior ministers from the 25-nation bloc are to hold a full debate on the issue today, when German Interior Minister Otto Schily will outline his proposal to set up transit centres in North Africa where EU nations could uncover illegal immigrants trying to get into Europe.

Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell said he wanted a full justification from Schily as to why such camps were necessary.

“These are issues we have to proceed slowly and cautiously on,” he said, but added that EU ministers should approach the idea with an “open mind.”

Schily argues that EU officials could assess applicants at immigration centres before they set foot on the continent as a way of helping stem illegal immigration across the Mediterranean.

“We need to think about preventing illegal immigration more forcefully,” Schily told reporters yesterday, but refused to elaborate on his proposal before briefing his EU colleagues.

“We either can wait until the problems come to Europe … or we go actively after the problems and try to solve them. I am for the latter.”

German officials, backed by Italy, floated the idea this summer after a German refugee agency’s ship was confiscated when it docked in an Italian port with 37 African asylum seekers on board.

The debate is part of a two-day conference on ways in which the EU can increase cooperation in forging common immigration and asylum policies.

EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino and Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner, who was hosting the talks, refused to say how much support the plan might have.

“We may have some controversy to some extent,” Donner said ahead of the debate.

Several African countries, including Libya and Kenya, have been touted as host countries for the suggested camps, while Ukraine has been mentioned as a possible host country to handle refugees fleeing the conflict in Chechnya.

However, human rights activists and the United Nation’s refugee agency fear the camps could do more harm than good. They claim host countries do not themselves live up to international human rights standards and cannot be expected to safely house asylum seekers.

“Our main concern is the legal protection of these people,” said Daphne Bouteillet from the Amnesty International rights group.