Migrant deportation camps outside the EU are set to receive the green light in a huge U-turn by European leaders.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has cleared the way for so called "return hubs" amid demands for "sanctions" against failed asylum seekers.
The camps would hold migrants from EU member states after they are served with deportation orders.
It comes after the first migrants were stopped in Italian waters and sent to Albania to have their asylum application processed following the launch of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's new policy.
Migrant deportation camps outside the EU are set to get the green light in a huge U-turn by European leadersGettyNow, von der Leyen has used Italy's model as a possible new approach for Europe.
The European Commission president wrote in a letter to leader in Europe: "We should continue to explore possible ways forward as regards the idea of developing return hubs outside the EU, especially in view of a new legislative proposal on return."
In 2018, the commission - led by Jean-Claude Juncker at the time - ruled that producing "externally located return centres" outside the EU would breach international refugee conventions.
The EU home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, also stated two years ago that Britain’s proposals to process asylum claims in Rwanda was "outsourcing … not a humane and dignified migration policy".
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The reversal in Brussels marks a win and political validation for Meloni, Italy's populist prime minister, who is set to lead a key meeting of hardline asylum critics at the Brussels conference this week.
She told the Italian senate: "It is a new, courageous, unprecedented path, but one that perfectly reflects the European spirit and that has everything it takes to be followed also with other non-EU nations."
Von der Leyen said the new Albanian procedure was one for the whole EU "to draw lessons from this experience in practice".
An important turning point in Brussels came when Germany and France endorsed an Austro-Dutch proposal last week calling for a "paradigm shift" in deportation procedures, including penalties for migrants who fail to comply with deportation orders.
This proposal laid the groundwork for a new legal framework for migrant camps.
Migrant arrivals across Europe have increased this year
REUTERSThe International Rescue Committee, a global humanitarian organisation, has criticised Italian Prime Minister Meloni's Albania model, labelling it a "dangerous political experiment" and warning that it should never serve as a template for the EU's migration policy.
Western Balkan countries like Serbia are facing increasing pressure to host return hubs in exchange for having their EU membership applications expedited.
"As candidate countries, they should welcome the opportunity to contribute and enhance their chances of joining the EU," one diplomat told The Times.
Von der Leyen’s shift away from long-standing EU policy comes ahead of a potentially contentious migration conference, following Poland’s unilateral move to halt all asylum claims, the introduction of German border controls, and requests from the Netherlands and Hungary for exemptions from refugee regulations.