Five EU nations aim to send rejected asylum applicants to 'return hubs' by 2027

Five EU countries are seeking a deal with an unnamed non-EU nation to host a ‘return hub’ for migrants whose asylum applications are rejected.

Denmark, Greece, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands agreed to the initiative at talks in Copenhagen:

"Around New Year, we expect to have a common understanding with a partner country outside of the European Union," Morten Bødskov, Danish Minister of Immigration and Integration, told reporters after the meeting on Friday.

"The EU legal framework is in place for the establishment of a return hub model, and as today's guiding principles forms the basis for the way forward, seen from a Danish perspective, we expect to be ready to transfer the first irregular migrants to a partner country outside the European Union within 2027.”

Under the current system, many rejected migrants can’t be deported for legal or humanitarian reasons and find themselves trapped in legal limbo. 



"We do not accept that foreigners staying illegally in Denmark should be rewarded because of our difficulties in returning them," Bødskov said in an earlier statement.

"That's why it is not a small story. We are transforming EU asylum and migration policy in this process here.”

The partner country or countries haven’t been disclosed but Uganda and Rwanda in particular are seen as possibilities.

In June, the European Parliament approved tougher migration rules allowing for the creation of "return hubs.”

The idea has been severely criticised by human rights groups.

Britain abandoned a scheme to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda, while Italian-run facilities to process migrants in Albania have faced legal challenges and a slow uptake.