EU return hubs plan targets rejected asylum seekers by early 2027

Belgrade,UPDATED: Sep 4, 2026 23:20 IST

Denmark and four other European Union countries have agreed on a model for setting up “return hubs” in non-EU countries for migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected. The countries said they hope to begin sending people to these facilities by early 2027, marking a significant shift in the EU’s approach to migration and asylum.

The plan was announced after a one-day meeting in Copenhagen involving ministers from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Greece. While the five countries said the centres would operate within European and international law, the proposal has drawn criticism from rights groups, which have raised concerns over how human rights would be protected outside the EU.

Denmark’s immigration and integration minister, Morten Bodskov, said the countries were leading negotiations with governments, mainly in Africa, over possible sites for the hubs. “We are moving forward toward what is actually a fundamental transformation of the common European migration and asylum system,” he said.

Bodskov said the idea, once dismissed as incompatible with EU and international law, had moved forward after changes in EU rules. In June, European lawmakers voted to allow member states to set up centres outside the EU on their own or in small groups, and to send rejected asylum seekers there instead of returning them to their home countries. Dutch asylum and migration minister Bart van den Brink said, “This is something new, and it’s groundbreaking.”

Although the ministers did not name the third countries being considered, Bodskov said they expected to reach a first agreement by early 2027. He rejected suggestions that the “return hubs” were another name for detention or deportation centres, and said the Organisation for Migration and the UN refugee agency would monitor them. “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.

However, the UNHCR told The Associated Press that it “has not been approached with details of such a proposal”, and therefore “cannot comment on the specific arrangements being discussed or on what any potential role for UNHCR might entail.”

Rwanda is among the countries that have publicly acknowledged talks with European nations. In early August, government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told Royal FM Kigali that it was “natural” for Rwanda to negotiate with European countries and others on potentially hosting asylum seekers who are not allowed to live elsewhere. Referring to an emergency transit mechanism set up in Gashora in 2018 for people evacuated from Libya, she said one proposal under discussion was to offer a “safe place” where people with nowhere else to go could receive medical care, training and rest while their asylum claims were processed, until they could safely return home or be resettled elsewhere. “We want to be part of a solution to a big global problem,” Makolo said.

It remains unclear what countries holding talks with EU nations would receive in return for taking in Europe’s rejected migrants. Rights groups have said the model could make it harder to monitor conditions and ensure legal protections. In an emailed statement, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty said, “vague assurances of compliance with human rights law are not enough.” He added: “States need to commit to the guardrails necessary to prevent setting up human rights black holes.”

The ministers in Copenhagen said the hubs would comply with European and international law. Van den Brink said technical talks and visits to potential partner countries would help “to gain more insight into the human rights situation and the living conditions of the refugees”, adding, “Because we want to do this in a European way, in line with our values and international law and human rights at its core.” Brussels-based group PICUM criticised the meeting, with director Michele LeVoy saying, “EU leaders may call these centres an ‘innovative solution,’ but outsourcing migration control is an old tactic to simply move people out of sight and evade human rights obligations.” Overall, the Copenhagen meeting underlined both the push by some EU countries to launch return hubs abroad by 2027 and the continuing dispute over their legality, oversight and impact on migrants’ rights.

With PTI Inputs

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