In Brussels on Sunday, the leaders of 10 European Union and three non-EU states agreed a 17-point plan to control the movement of refugees on the so-called Balkan route in order to block them from entering Europe and send them back to their countries of origin.
Four hundred border guards from other EU countries are to be sent to Slovenia this week. The coast guard will be strengthened along the Greek-Turkish border, the route taken by most refugees, as well as along the Turkish-Bulgarian border. The Greek border with Macedonia and Albania will be secured by new Frontex missions.
Both Europol and Interpol are to be deployed in the Balkans and used to combat “traffickers.”
Germany and other Western European countries can then expel refugees at any time. Migrants have a right to asylum and residence only in the country where they are first registered. Although this rule is currently not being applied because of the large numbers of refugees, it is the law.
To make registration possible, 100,000 locations for refugees will be set up along the Balkan route, half of them in Greece. These facilities are euphemistically being called “rest areas,” but they are actually huge camps where the refugees will be interned until they are registered or deported.
The parliament of Slovenia approved the deployment of its army to the border on Tuesday night. An initial 140 soldiers are being stationed on the border and will have the authority to detain refugees and issue orders to local residents.
In Germany the leaderships of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), agreed Sunday to a comprehensive programme to deter, detain and expel refugees.
Asylum seekers, will be held in transit zones that will be surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by police. The German plan also detailed to suspend “family reunification for applicants as well. Family reunification is not a privilege to be granted anymore.
The CDU/CSU are also planning in the future to grant refugees from Syria only “subsidiary protection,” justified on the basis that they travelled through a safe country such as Turkey. They would then be denied the right to reunite their families.
Germany will not honour its unofficial moratorium on deportations during the winter months, and will cease giving refugees advance warning that they will be deported to prevent them from fleeing.
Germany has developed escalating deportation models to ensure that nobody slated for repatriation can escape. German officials usually show up in the middle of the night. Officials in target countries prefer to deal with new arrivals during their normal working hours, requiring flights to land by early afternoon, if possible.
Those who resist are not forced into the plane and their deportation is often postponed. But prior to the second attempt, such deportees usually have their hands bound together by Velcro straps. Traditional handcuffs are generally shunned for safety reasons; should the plane crash, the restraints must be easily removable.