BERLIN—The European Union’s tough new measures to curb mass immigration marks a fundamental shift in the continent’s traditionally liberal migrant policy.
The unprecedented move, which drew protests from human-rights campaigners, envisions detaining asylum seekers trying to reach the bloc’s shores in so-called control centers in Mediterranean countries such as Greece and Spain, as well as in North Africa.
The deal, which still lacks many details, was agreed largely due to frantic efforts by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is under pressure politically, and Italy’s new anti-immigrant government. French President Emmanuel Macron brokered a compromise among roughly a dozen countries willing to help Italy with the condition that migrants be detained to ensure that they don’t leave for other countries.
Migrants setting off from North Africa in makeshift boats are mainly rescued in international waters by ships run by nongovernmental organizations, who then bring castaways to ports in countries such as Italy.
Under the new arrangement, such search-and-rescue operations, which Italian authorities have said are facilitating mass migration, would be more strictly regulated—and would eventually have to send the migrants ashore to designated African ports.
Migrants rescued in EU territorial waters would be brought to European ports, but kept in detention centers until their status were clarified.
The concept is inspired in part by the model long used by Australia, which turns back all migrant boats and sends them to third-country centers run by local authorities. That system has been criticized by human-rights campaigners and the media for what some call inhumane conditions.
The U.S. also runs detention camps for immigrants. The largest, the South Texas Family Residential Center, has a capacity of 2,400 and was set up to detain mainly women and children from Central America. Conditions at the center are in line with humanitarian standards.
Australia’s tough policy has prompted international outrage, said Elisabeth Collett, director of Migration Policy Institute Europe, a think tank. But the measures have curbed mass migration and prevented people from drowning at sea while trying to reach Australia, she added.
European plans for shifting the processing of asylum claims to African countries were proposed as early as 2003 by Britain, Ms. Collett noted, but they were long considered unpalatable amid pressure from media, campaigners and the public. The new deal shows how much opinion has shifted following the migration crisis and the rise of the populist movements across the continent.
The deal was partially influenced by a proposal from Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, one of Ms. Merkel’s main European critics, who on Monday is set to assume the rotating EU presidency.
“This is a crucial step—only if we ensure that people who have been rescued at sea are brought to third countries can we destroy the business model of smugglers and massively reduce the number of refugees coming to Europe. It is now essential to swiftly implement what we agreed on,” Mr. Kurz said.
European leaders, mindful of Australia’s experience, agreed to have the centers in third countries operated by reputable international entities such as the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration.
A prototype “disembarkation platform” center already exists in the Tunisian port of Zarzis, run by the Red Crescent and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the global body working to protect displaced people.
Vincent Cochetel, special envoy of the UNHCR for the Central Mediterranean, tentatively endorsed the EU plans and said detaining immigrants was admissible under EU law.
“Detention is not what we wish for the majority of people, but in some circumstances it would be necessary in order to repatriate some people,” Mr. Cochetel said. He said that more than 70% of asylum claims of people who have crossed the Mediterranean get rejected, but they don’t get returned after reaching Europe. “Those who are not in need of protection should be encouraged to return, voluntarily or otherwise,” he said.
Others were more critical.
“Refugees will in the future have hardly any chance to apply for asylum on European soil,” said Ska Keller, the German co-chair of the Green Parties group in the European Parliament. European leaders “are pursuing a far-right agenda. But this will not weaken the right—on the contrary.”
EU leaders also pledged €500 million ($578 million) to support African countries in managing migration and to create a new fund to help the bloc boost security along its borders.
Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com
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