Migrants: Italia aims to open pilot hubs in Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana

Ceuta is a crisis, but for the government of Giorgia Meloni it is also an opportunity: to speed up the implementation of the new EU regulation on returns, pushing for the opening as early as 2027 of ‘return hubs’ for migrants in third countries. No longer will Italia act alone, as it did in Albania, but will join forces with other states pulling in the same direction, starting with Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands.

At the extraordinary video conference convened by the Irish Presidency of the EU Council following the letter from 22 countries initiated on Saturday by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen (who jointly co-chair the informal group on migration that meets prior to every European Council), the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, will outline Italy’s position today. Already partly outlined in the letter, by Meloni herself and yesterday by the Italian ambassador in Rome at the preparatory Coreper meeting. And it is based on a hardline approach at European level: border control, the fight against traffickers, more effective repatriation, and the prompt implementation of the Chisinau Declaration to adapt the international legal framework to the challenges posed by modern irregular migration. In other words, revising human rights conventions: a pet project of Meloni’s, already launched last year from the podium of the UN General Assembly in New York. “The proper functioning of the Schengen area depends on the integrity of the external borders,” emphasised Rome’s representative.

But there is another concrete objective that Meloni is aiming to achieve, as reports from Palazzo Chigi suggest: to move swiftly, with the EU Commission’s backing, to launch pilot projects for the establishment of return hubs in third countries. These would be similar to the centres set up in Shëngjin and Gjadër under the Italy–Albania protocol, but this time co-managed by two or more states and funded by the EU. Italia is working in tandem with, first and foremost, Frederiksen, Austria and the Netherlands. And they are looking to countries where initial negotiations have already begun: from Rwanda to Uganda, and as far as Ghana. All this is accompanied by a push for bilateral agreements and investments in countries of origin and transit – modelled on the Mattei Plan – with the promise of concessions on tariffs.

For the Italian Prime Minister, the ideal scenario would be to be able to open the first centres as early as 2027, an election year. This would also serve to claim victory for the Italian position in Europe and to take away some of the ammunition held by her rival on the right, Roberto Vannacci. Yesterday, he joined the other opposition parties in calling for the Prime Minister to make a statement in Parliament, but for the opposite reasons. Whilst the PD, M5S, AVS and the centrists of Azione speak of ‘propaganda’, for the general, the suspension of Schengen is not enough: special forces should be deployed to guard the borders.