USA10 August, 20262 min read
Giorgia Meloni and Mette Frederiksen Push Deportation Centers After Ceuta Crisis
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Meloni and Frederiksen call for deportations and third-country repatriation centers. They link irregular migration to crime and urge stricter European border policy.
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Meloni-Frederiksen joint push
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen launched a joint push linking “uncontrolled immigration” to crime and calling for more expulsions and the creation of deportation centers in third countries after the Ceuta crisis. In their message, they said, “No one can deny the negative effects of illegal immigration on our societies,” and they cited “rising crime” and “pressure on public services” as among those effects. They also argued that it is “particularly serious” when irregular migrants “commit violent crimes, traffic drugs, or are perpetrators of sexual assaults,” using that framing to demand concrete action.
The push was presented as a letter and published on their social networks, with El País describing it as a new joint push to harden European immigration policy. El País also said the leaders demanded “more expulsions and the creation of deportation centers in third countries” in the same joint push.
Ceuta tensions and Schengen
El País said Meloni and Frederiksen were among the first leaders to call for a temporary suspension of Spain from the Schengen area after thousands of citizens entered Ceuta from Morocco on July 31. In the same context, El País described their relationship as evolving into “one of the most singular tandems in European politics,” despite nearly 2,000 kilometers separating Rome from Copenhagen. Brussels Signal said the two leaders set out their case in a joint message published on their social media accounts on August 10, and they said they did not accept uncontrolled immigration into Europe.
Brussels Signal also said the leaders argued that “Repatriation centres should be built in third countries alongside other solutions outside Europe,” and it placed their push alongside Rome’s talks with Rwanda over taking in people expelled from Italy. Brussels Signal further said “Some 27 Council of Europe member states signed a joint statement in December 2025” calling for the convention to be reworked to deal with migration.
Deportation centers and legal groundwork
El País said that from Brussels it was recalled that member states can already promote the type of deportation centers Meloni and Frederiksen advocate, and it cited the Return Systems Regulation approved in June. El País also reported that several countries are already seeking locations for these centers, including Italy’s promotion of one in Albania and Denmark’s, alongside Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Greece “discreetly negotiating with third countries.” El País described the leaders’ argument that acting together helped to “modify the balance in the application of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding foreign nationals who commit serious crimes.”
Brussels Signal said the leaders called for deportations to rise and that they had shifted the balance in how the European Convention on Human Rights is applied to foreign nationals who commit serious crimes. Brussels Signal added that the leaders’ message “went beyond irregular arrivals” and said respect for national law must go hand in hand with respect for European values, applying to “the millions of foreign nationals living legally in Europe.”