Interview
Cecilia Strada: ‘To outsource the borders is to deny European values’
We spoke with the Democratic Party MEP about Von der Leyen’s letter on migration. ‘The notion of stopping departures is just wishful thinking. And in any case, trying to do so comes at the price of a very serious violation of human rights.’
At a coffee shop in Brussels, Cecilia Strada, a MEP elected on the list of the Democratic Party, catches sight of an unknown woman sporting a bag with the words “Sta rottura di coglioni dei fascisti” (“These pain-in-the-ass fascists,” a line that became a catchphrase a few years ago, uttered by an activist in Castelli Romani who was protecting a group of refugees from a gang of far-right protesters) and an Emergency T-shirt. Strada cannot help but go up to her and introduce herself, complimenting her on the outfit. Then our interview can begin.
Ursula Von der Leyen's letter on migrants seems to signal a rightward shift in the orientation of the Commission. What are your thoughts on this?
The last legislature ended with the approval of the Immigration and Asylum Pact, which was certainly not left-wing. The big issue was already that of respecting human rights, and the Democratic Party did not vote for it. Von der Leyen is in a hurry because there are two years left before the pact goes into effect. So, she needs to find a way to correct the text that was passed. Not only regarding the rights of migrants, but also the countries of first arrival, which are not protected in any way. The pact doesn’t set up any mechanism for European solidarity.
Giorgia Meloni has worked to shift the focus of action at the EU level on stopping migrant departures instead of the joint management of reception.
Most likely, Meloni is no longer in a position to call for European solidarity. Maybe others could do that, but right now the allies of the Meloni government don't want there to be any European solidarity. So they’re going all in on another approach, but they’re betting on things that aren’t working. The notion of stopping departures is just wishful thinking. And in any case, trying to do so comes at the price of a very serious violation of human rights. Furthermore, these kinds of choices leave Europe ripe for blackmail.
Ahead of the preliminary meeting of the Council of Ministers, Elly Schlein has harshly criticized any choice to outsource border management.
To outsource the borders is to deny the values on which Europe has been founded. That's what they did with Libya, which got money to violate human rights instead of us. One must admit, however, that Meloni didn’t come up with that memorandum: sadly, it was the work of the center-left. Thankfully, Schlein was very clear on this matter: we cannot accept such violations.
However, Von der Leyen, seems willing to accept them.
Von der Leyen says in her letter that some member countries are thinking about “innovative solutions.” But the only truly innovative solution is opening safe and legal access channels for migrants. It’s the only thing that works in practice, including from a purely selfish perspective. The governor of the Bank of Italy said it too: we need to attract migrant workers, otherwise we’ll fall off a cliff by 2045.
Are these positions shared by the Socialists and Democrats group?
We will talk about that, and we’ll start doing so as soon as possible. The protection of human rights is a topic on which we need to have a discussion.
Meanwhile, in Italy, Schlein has finally put forward a bill to repeal the Bossi-Fini Law [which introduced criminal penalties for irregular migrants]. Is this part of the process of rethinking past mistakes?
This is also a necessity, not only for rights but also for those who claim they want security, which is achieved through legal status, not the Bossi-Fini approach. A law that creates illegality is not a very functional one.
Do the current developments at the EU level mark the first real setback for the Italian government and Giorgia Meloni?
In absolute terms, Meloni has already lost 700,000 votes in these European elections. And then, she also lost the administrative elections. This government is not protecting the rights of citizens. And it looks like the Italians are noticing.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/esternalizzare-le-frontiere-significa-negare-i-valori-fondanti-delleuropa on 2024-06-28