Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed that the European Union establish migrant return centers outside its borders to combat irregular migration. Her proposal came after a mass migration crisis at the end of July in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta in North Africa, where 60,000 people entered in a single day.
The Italian Prime Minister plans for these centers to become operational initially in 2027, funded from the EU budget. Rome aims to sign agreements with third countries by the end of this year.
Meloni's initiative will be one of the main items on the agenda of the EU Home Affairs Council meeting to be held remotely on Tuesday. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi will represent Italy at the meeting.
Support from EU countries
Italy's proposal has strong backing from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen as well as Austria, the Netherlands and Germany. Earlier, 22 EU countries sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa demanding that new mechanisms be considered to tackle irregular migration.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also called for the establishment of similar centers, pointing to 2027 like Meloni. The most advanced negotiations with African countries are underway with Rwanda and Uganda.
Problems with the Albania Model
Under a previous agreement with Albania, Italy had established centers abroad, at its own expense and under its jurisdiction, for assessing asylum applications, detaining migrants and carrying out deportations. However, Italian courts repeatedly blocked migrants from being held in these centers, returning them to Italy and challenging accelerated border procedures for citizens of safe countries.
According to Italian media, all 73 individuals 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% could be sent back. The cost of a center in Gjader alone was calculated at around 50 million euros in 2025.
The Crisis in Ceuta
The Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, located on the border with Morocco in North Africa, faced a mass influx of migrants at the end of July. Spain deployed additional police, gendarmerie and military units to the area. Officials announced on July 31 that 60,000 people had entered the city of around 85,000 residents in a single day.
