On Wednesday, the European Commission presented a fresh roster of what are termed "safe countries" concerning immigration, featuring seven nations: Morocco, Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, and Tunisia. The purpose behind this categorization is to lower the likelihood of providing asylum to individuals from these places by speeding up the examination of their requests. It presumes that most applicants from these countries typically fail to satisfy the necessary conditions for obtaining refugee status, thus simplifying procedures for potential removals.
The Commission stated that adding these nations to the list is intended to tackle the rising numbers of immigrants migrating to the European Union from them. It assumes that individuals seeking asylum from these countries generally do not face systemic persecution or imminent dangers to their safety, thereby warranting their designation as "safe countries of origin."
Even though various European nations like France maintain individual "safe country" lists, the European Union has not established a single comprehensive list for all member states. The Commission feels that these differing criteria among countries incentivize asylum seekers to target those with more lenient procedures.
The Commission observed that nations aspiring to join the EU typically fulfill the criteria to be classified as "safe countries." However, confirming this roster necessitates approval from both the European Parliament and the current EU member states, potentially leading to significant political discussions due to the contentious nature of the topic and possible disagreements between the twenty-seven member states.
Italy emerged as one of the leading advocates of this strategy, with the country hailing the publication of the list as a "victory for the Italian administration." Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi noted that the far-right alliance headed by Giorgia Meloni came into power promising stricter immigration policies and has since made significant efforts to scrutinize this list through bilateral and multilateral channels.
In 2015, the Commission initially suggested a comparable roster, which was subsequently withdrawn because of disputes regarding Turkey’s addition, particularly due to worries about its circumstances related to human rights, judicial autonomy, and media liberty.