Listen: When and where should we expect the future migrant ‘return hubs’?

Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network. EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Briefed” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms. Find the full transcript below: New return hubs could soon be established outside the European Union. At least, that is the ambition of several European countries, which want to speed up the return of migrants who have been denied the right to stay in the EU. When and where should we expect those return hubs? A few months ago, EU member states and the European Parliament approved a new framework allowing what are known as “return hubs” to be set up. The principle is fairly simple: a European country could reach an agreement with a non-EU country to transfer migrants who have been denied the right to stay in Europe, but who cannot easily be sent back to their country of origin Because some countries refuse to take back their own nationals, or because returning them can be particularly difficult. These hubs would therefore be located outside the EU and would be used to facilitate the return of people who are already subject to a return decision. The concept is already being tested on a national level by Italy. Giorgia Meloni’s government reached an agreement with Albania a few years ago and had two centres built there. Italy has been transferring migrants to Albania since the beginning of this year, although the scheme has already faced legal challenges. At European level, the idea of return hubs has sparked plenty of debate. Emmanuel Macron, for example, was openly critical of the principle, arguing that these centres did not fit with European values. But it didn’t stop the EU return regulation from being adopted by a majority of EU Member States and Parliamentarians. And since then, five countries in particular have decided to take things further. Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Greece have set up a working group dedicated to return hubs. Those five countries met in Copenhagen last Friday, with a clear objective: to move from political discussions to concrete steps. So what was the outcome? For now, no specific return hub project has officially been announced. But Dutch migration minister Bart van den Brink said that a list of countries that could potentially host these centres could be published this autumn. And his Danish counterpart, Morten Bødskov, would even like to see the first centres up and running as early as next year. Now, where to go? One of the countries being considered is Rwanda, alongside Uganda, and even Uzbekistan. At the end of August, representatives from the five European countries travelled to Kigali in Rwanda, to discuss the possibility with officials. Why Rwanda? Because the country already has experience in this area. Since 2019, it has hosted migrants transferred from Libya. And, more importantly, Rwanda had already negotiated an agreement with the United Kingdom to host asylum seekers and migrants facing removal. That British project was ultimately abandoned. This is because the UK Supreme Court ruled that the plan was unlawful, notably because there was a real risk that some people transferred to Rwanda could subsequently be sent back to countries where they might face persecution. And this is where the main legal challenge for European countries lies. The EU can organise the return of migrants, but it has to respect the principle of non-refoulement. In other words, a person cannot be returned, directly or indirectly, to a country where they risk persecution or treatment that violates their fundamental rights. Earlier this year, the Netherlands started discussions with Uganda about return hubs, but the talks came to a halt because of Uganda’s repeated violations of human rights, in particular toward the LGBTQ community. The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, has recently warned the five countries about the significant risks these centres could pose to migrants’ fundamental rights. NGOs are also strongly opposed to the idea, so legal challenges are likely. To sum up, return hubs are becoming more and more concrete, but before they are fully operational, they might face a bunch of obstacles.