Five European Union countries have agreed on concrete steps towards establishing a “return hub” in a non-EU country for migrants who do not have legal residency, as European governments seek to speed up the return of people whose asylum applications have been rejected. Germany, Austria, Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands announced the agreement on Friday after a meeting hosted by Denmark in Copenhagen.
The countries said they aim to reach an agreement with a partner country this year, although they did not identify the country being considered. “We want to reach an agreement with third countries this year that will enable the establishment of return hubs,” German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters in Copenhagen. Danish Immigration and Integration Minister Morten Bodskov said Denmark expected to be ready to send migrants to a return hub by the end of 2027. Greece's migration and asylum minister Thanos Plevris said the goal was to have a hub operational outside the EU by 2027.
The initiative follows changes to EU migration policy. The European Parliament approved an overhaul of migration rules in June that allows member states to establish centres outside the EU and send rejected asylum seekers there instead of returning them directly to their home countries. The five countries said they had agreed on a model for such facilities. The group plans to meet again in Munich, Germany, at the end of September. Bodskov described the move as a transformation of Europe's asylum and migration system. He rejected the suggestion that return hubs would be detention camps. “We are not talking about camps, we are talking about opportunities, for a new chance for irregular migrants who cannot return to their own country today and who have no legal grounds to be in our countries,” he said, according to news agency AP. The ministers said the proposed hubs would operate in accordance with European and international law. The Netherlands' minister of asylum and migration Bart van den Brink said technical talks and missions to potential partner countries would examine human rights conditions and living standards.
The five governments have not disclosed which countries could host the facilities. The nations have been negotiating with governments, mainly in Africa, over potential locations. Rwanda confirmed in August that it had begun preliminary discussions with unnamed European countries about potentially hosting asylum seekers who are not allowed to remain elsewhere. Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said one idea involved providing a safe place where people could receive medical care, training and rest while their cases were processed. The terms of any potential arrangement, including what partner countries could receive in return for accepting rejected migrants, have not been disclosed.
The proposed return hubs have drawn criticism from human rights organisations. The Council of Europe said in July that such centres posed “considerable human rights risks”. Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty said that “vague assurances of compliance with human rights law are not enough”. The Danish Refugee Council also criticised the approach. Its secretary general Charlotte Slente said return hubs would deal with only a limited number of returns and could raise concerns over migrants' rights. “Return hubs focus on a small number of returns, they will not stop people from taking even more dangerous routes, and they could violate basic human rights,” she said. The UN Refugee Agency said it had not been approached with details of the proposal and therefore could not comment on the specific arrangements or any potential role for UNHCR. The European ministers said the proposed hubs would be established in line with human rights and international law. Van den Brink said the partner-country discussions would include examining “the human rights situation and the living conditions of the refugees”. The initiative also faces opposition within Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed the idea as ineffective and incompatible with European values.
