IRELAND WOULD SUPPORT measures to accelerate the roll out of policies included in the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact but would not be in favour of rushing into “stupid” Rwanda-style plans, the Taoiseach has said.

Simon Harris is in Brussels for a European Council summit with leaders from the EU where the main focus of discussions is on the continuing and escalating violence in the Middle East and receive an update on the war in Ukraine.

A letter to European leaders on Monday evening from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted to take the opportunity to discuss the “challenges of migration” at today’s meeting.

She recommended that the roll out of the Migration and Asylum Pact, passed by the EU earlier this year, be accelerated and floated the idea of establishing “return hubs” outside of the EU.

Return hubs would allow EU governments to send asylum seekers to a centre outside of its jurisdiction for claims processing and resettlement. The idea drew criticism over its similarities to the Rwanda plan in the UK, that suggested the same measures.

Asked about the issue today, the Taoiseach said any plans on deportations must be “underpinned by our common European values in terms of international law, human rights, meeting our humanitarian obligations”. 

Taoiseach Simon Harris speaking to media in Brussels ahead of a meeting with the European Council. European Council European Council

He added: “We are facing such a scale of challenge when it comes to migration. Of course, we should always be willing to consider innovative solutions, once they are grounded in [European values]. I’m here to listen today.”

Harris said Ireland would be in favour of implementing the Migration and Asylum Pact more quickly and claimed that most people in Ireland want to see the issue of migration dealt with.

However, Harris said the EU’s proposals should not be “misrepresented”: 

“I deplored everything about the Rwanda policy. I thought it was, sort of, downright stupid to be quite honest.

“It didn’t really work, didn’t really result in anything happening, did it? It spend a lot of – I presume – British taxpayers’ money and didn’t really achieve much at all. And, in my view, it was not in any way compatible with human rights law.”

He added that the EU’s deportation policy should not be “conflated” with the UK’s failed ‘Rwanda plan’. He said that European leaders are looking at “every possible legal lever” to introduce a revamped migration system.

The Taoiseach clarified that he is willing to discuss deportation policy and reasoned that just because he believed the Rwanda policy was “wrong”, it does not mean that the EU should not look at other ways to tackle the issue.

But he reiterated that what he was most interested in were plans to accelerate the implementation of the Migration and Asylum Pact.

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Von der Leyen is calling for European leaders to come to a consensus and develop a “common approach” to ‘returns’, or deportations, and will continue to urge the Council to discuss the issue as she directs MEPs and Ministers to shape the debate.

The new College of Commissioners will review the current legislative frameworks and research methods on how illegal immigration can be mitigated under current legal frameworks, such as through EU visa policy and trade regulations.

The Commission President said the EU should use these positions as “leverage”.

On Tuesday the European Commission were quick to respond to the letter, telling reporters that no formal plans had been tabled. A spokesperson also acknowledged that current EU law would not facilitate the practice in the recommendation.

The spokesperson told journalists that the points of action suggested by von der Leyen were “for the future” and were made in the context of how the next group of European Commissioners can complement measures in the Migration and Asylum Pact.

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