Greece proposes suspending asylum requests in emergencies

Greece urged the European Union on Thursday to allow member states to temporarily suspend asylum applications during major migration flows, arguing that current ‌rules are inadequate to handle mass arrivals as in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta this summer. The proposal, submitted to EU interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg during the Justice and Home Affairs Council, appeared to garner support from some member states.

"We have to find a legal way not to bring them into the asylum procedure," said Dutch Migration ‌Minister Bart van den Brink. "In situations like Ceuta, it should be treated as a border management issue rather than an asylum issue." Anti-immigration sentiment has remained ‌a potent political force across Europe since more than 1 million people, many of them Syrians fleeing war, arrived in the bloc in 2015.

The flow of migrants has boosted support for nationalist and far-right parties and pushed many governments towards tougher migration policies centered on border controls, deterrence and returns. Irregular arrivals are down 35% this year and returns were up 8% in the first half of this year.

Spain ⁠estimates more ​than 72,000 migrants entered Ceuta in late ⁠July. Most have since returned, but about 10,000 remain, reinforcing calls in some capitals for a tougher approach. MORE TOOLS FOR EMERGENCIES

Several member states argue the EU migration pact, which entered into force in ⁠June, has helped reduce arrivals but does not provide sufficient tools to respond to large-scale emergencies. Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said the pact had improved the bloc's ability to manage migration ​flows but had not gone far enough.

"In such cases, there should be enhanced border surveillance and suspension of asylum," he told reporters ahead of a meeting ⁠of EU justice and home affairs ministers in Luxembourg. Plevris' proposal comes two weeks after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the commission will present an emergency framework allowing member states to respond ⁠to sudden ​large-scale migrant arrivals.

Asked whether he saw a suspension of asylum as possible under the new emergency law, Magnus Brunner, commissioner for migration, said international law had to be respected. Ministers also approved on Thursday the return regulation, which will allow member states to establish return hubs outside the EU.

Rwanda has held preliminary talks with ⁠some EU countries about potentially hosting such facilities, two European Parliament lawmakers said on Wednesday, citing discussions with Rwandan officials. Officials from Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Denmark — known ⁠as the Group of Five — met ⁠on Thursday on the sidelines of the council.

Van den Brink said a technical mission visited the potential host country in early September. He said discussions had progressed and the group aims to identify the country by the end of this year and ‌begin transfers in 2027, though ‌the five countries have not provided further details.