Proponents say return hubs – which would serve either as the final destination or as transfer centres for those expelled – could facilitate repatriations and act as a deterrent for would-be irregular migrants.
But critics question their effectiveness, pointing to the hurdles faced by similar projects and likening them to “legal black holes” that could see migrants stranded in limbo with little oversight.
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.
This week Greek migration minister Thanos Plevris said his country was aiming to open a centre in 2027 in an African country “that we have already agreed on” but could not yet be named.
RWANDAN OPTION?
Two European lawmakers from the Greens group said Wednesday that officials in Rwanda had told them they were negotiating with the five EU countries.
Lawmakers Anna Strolenberg and Tineke Strik, who went on an exploratory mission to Rwanda and neighbouring Uganda, oppose return hubs over human rights and other concerns.
“Most likely the first country that a deal will be struck with is Rwanda,” Strolenberg, a Dutch parliamentarian, told a virtual press conference.
Rwanda is among a number of African countries that have received migrants from the United States under a similar contested US immigration scheme championed by President Donald Trump.
The talks in Luxembourg were EU ministers’ first in-person meeting since this summer’s migrant rush to Spain’s exclave of Ceuta tested European border security and triggered a diplomatic spat between Spain and migration hardliner Italy.
Spain was expected to provide an update on the situation in its northern African territory, with discussions also to focus on proposals to prevent and manage similar crises in the future.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said this month the European Commission will propose an emergency tool for countries to better deal with mass migration movements, although details are yet to be defined.
Work is similarly going to improve Europe’s early warning system with plans under discussion including reinforcing the mandate of the bloc’s border agency Frontex to conduct social media monitoring.
