European charter flights to send illegal immigrants back to their country of origin: the option expected to be among the conclusions of the European summit, held in Brussels on 29-30 October. French Immigration Minister Eric Besson proposed the idea after recently putting it into practice with the United Kingdom.

The same week eight Afghans died in the Mediterranean trying to reach the island of Lesbos in a boat, the EU heads of state and government are preparing to talk tougher on clandestine immigration. According to the most recent draft of European Council conclusions - which were inspired by a joint letter sent by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Commission chief José Manuel Barroso  on 23 October - the Commission is expected to work on the possibility of “regular chartering” to the illegal immigrants’ country of origin, which would be “financed by Frontex,” the European agency for the management of operational cooperation at the external borders of the EU’s member states.

The EU executive is likely to make these proposals in early 2010 within the most general framework of Frontex’s reinforcement. The EU is drawing up its Stockholm programme, its 2010-2015 road map for policies on justice, security and freedom. According to the draft conclusions, in addition to European charter flights, the Commission will make recommendations on other points: launching joint operations at sea with an emphasis on protecting those migrants found in international waters, strengthening cooperation between Frontex and the countries of origin and transit, monitoring the effectiveness of relevant financial mechanisms within the EU and working with Libya to manage migration, including by sea.

France is not in fact attending the meeting of 29-30 October to announce the idea of European charters. Two days earlier, during a visit to the United Kingdom to inaugurate with his British counterpart Phil Woolas a joint operational information centre in Folkestone, which aims to fight the networks of illegal immigration, Eric Besson said: “We must now work better with our European partners to fight against illegal immigration, but also to jointly charter, under the banner of the European agency Frontex, planes together to return migrants to their countries of origin”.

THREE CONDITIONS FOR RETURN

London and Paris have already chartered a flight together. In mid-October, the two countries sent three Afghans from France and 24 from Great Britain to Kabul, provoking an outcry from liberal groups and refugee rights organisations. “We would do it again if the conditions were fulfilled,” said Besson without further elaboration.

After the announcement of the Franco-British charter, the Commission, on 22 October, laid down its conditions for the forced repatriation of Afghans. According to the spokesperson for Commissioner Jacques Barrot (justice, freedom and security), the fact that Afghanistan is in a state of war does not justify the automatic granting of international protection for its nationals, whose “claims of asylum must be examined case by case and according to very strict criteria”.

Three conditions must be fulfilled. First, national authorities must guarantee beforehand that the concerned migrants do not wish to claim international protection. Second, if they have made such a claim, the national authorities must guarantee that it was rigorously considered before its rejection. Third, the national authorities must guarantee that the lives of illegal migrants will not be put in danger once returned to Afghanistan.

In the case of Afghans repatriated by France, the Commission says these conditions were respected. But it did “not receive any details about the Afghans returned by Great Britain,” the spokesperson said.

The 27 leaders are also expected to call for an “effective solidarity” with the countries of the South of the EU, overloaded by the flux of migrants, as well as following up talks with Turkey, a transitory country for migrants. Barrot will visit there on 4-5 November.

The draft conclusions are available at The draft summit conclusions

The letter by Berlusconi and Sarkozy to Barroso