The chief conservative group in the European Union parliament will call for asylum seekers to be transferred to “safe third countries” to assess their claims in its manifesto to be approved Wednesday for elections in June.
The program from the European People’s Party takes controversial proposals from several conservative parties across Europe.
Britain, no longer an EU member, has begun plans to send undocumented migrants to Rwanda and Italy has an agreement with Albania to set up centers to process migrants rescued in the Mediterranean.
Asylum applications rose to more than one million last year, a seven-year high, with Syrians and Afghans at the top of the list, and the EU is working to restructure rules on asylum seekers.
Rules approved in December seek to share hosting duties across the 27-country bloc and to hasten deportations of irregular migrants for those considered ineligible to remain.
The EPP has urged for a “fundamental change in European asylum law” and is predicted to be adopted in Bucharest.
“We want to implement the concept of safe third countries” the manifesto states.
According to the proposal, those applying for asylum in the EU could be transferred to a third country and receive protection there if their claim is considered valid.
Some asylum seekers could be admitted to the EU “through annual humanitarian quotas of vulnerable individuals” permitting “us to address both security and integration requirements in the selection process” the manifesto noted.
Germany’s opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) party in a draft manifesto presented in December also proposed to send asylum seekers to safe third countries, with possible countries considered including Rwanda, Ghana, Georgia, and Moldova.
Jens Spahn, a CDU official, told German media the move seeks to reduce the number of migrants arriving in the EU.
The UK began negotiations with Rwanda to send migrants there, but the move has been met with court objections.
The plan has been criticized as possibly going against basic rights principles, and the EU home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, showed some reservations.
Italy has also signed a deal with Albania in November to send asylum seekers rescued at sea there to be held in two migrant centers.
The EEP is set to meet on Wednesday and Thursday in Bucharest, where they will choose Ursula von der Leyen as their main candidate for the position of European Commission president. EU elections are scheduled for June 6-9.
