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Meloni proposes migrant return centers outside the EU
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, following the migration crisis in Spain's Ceuta, proposed setting up centers outside the EU for the return of irregular migrants. The first centers are planned to become operational in 2027.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, following the heavy influx of migrants in Spain's Ceuta, proposed setting up centers outside the European Union (EU) for the return of irregular migrants. The first centers are planned to become operational in 2027.
Meloni's initiative will be one of the main agenda items of the EU Home Affairs Council meeting to be held remotely on Tuesday. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi will represent Italy at the meeting.
The Italian government aims to sign agreements with third countries by the end of this year and, similar to its model with Albania but financed from the EU budget, bring the centers online by 2027.
Growing Support
Italy's proposal is strongly supported by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, as well as Austria, the Netherlands and Germany. Previously, 22 EU countries, in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, had called for the evaluation of new mechanisms against irregular migration.
Among African countries, the most advanced negotiations are being conducted with Rwanda and Uganda. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also called for the establishment of similar centers, pointing to 2027 like Meloni.
The Albania Model and Legal Obstacles
Italy had previously set up centers abroad at its own expense and under its own jurisdiction for the processing of asylum applications, detention of migrants and their deportation, under an agreement with Albania. However, Italian courts repeatedly blocked the detention of migrants in these centers, returned them to Italy, and challenged accelerated border procedures for citizens of safe countries.
According to Italian press, all 73 people transferred to Albania between October 2024 and January 2025 returned to Italy by court orders. In the second phase, from May 2025 to mid-July 2026, 685 people were transferred to the centers in Albania, but fewer than 15 percent could be sent back. The cost of a center in Gjader alone in 2025 was calculated at around 50 million euros.
Migration Crisis in Ceuta
At the end of July, the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, located on the border with Morocco in North Africa, faced a mass influx of migrants. Spain sent additional police, gendarmerie and military forces to the region. Officials announced that on July 31, 60,000 people entered the city, which has a population of about 85,000, in a single day.
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