The EU establishes the framework for the construction of deportation centers in third countries.
The first noticeable outcome of the outsourcing trend that EU leaders approved last year is the new expulsion legislation. A radical change in migration policy was signaled on Tuesday when the European Commission introduced a new rule that, if accepted, would allow member states to send denied asylum applicants to far-off nations where they have never been.
The law provides the legal foundation for governments to make agreements with non-EU countries that might be willing to host migrants in exchange for financial incentives, but it stops short of creating an EU-wide program to construct deportation centers, or “return hubs” as Brussels refers to them.
What is Laid Down in the Emerging Legislation?
The European Commission has proposed a new law that redefines the concept of “country of return” for asylum seekers. The new law allows EU countries to build deportation centres in non-EU countries, allowing them to strike deals with non-EU countries. The Commission will not oversee the construction or management of these facilities, leaving it to governments to decide if they want to pursue the project. This move brings outsourcing closer by redefining the concept of “country of return”.
“We’re creating the legal frame, we’re not creating the content,” said Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration. “It’s an innovative new solution for member states, they’re free to take it.”
Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands have led discussions on outsourcing and appear to be the likeliest candidates to move ahead. Italy is reportedly considering a plan to turn its centres in Albania, meant to process asylum claims, into full-fledged “return hubs”. The Albanian centres are currently empty after being paralysed by legal action.
The regulation sets minimum criteria for these centers, including an independent body, exemptions for unaccompanied minors, and clear responsibilities for handling potential human rights violations. EU attempts to establish such partnerships have struggled due to limited cooperation from origin countries.
NGOs Sound Alarms
NGOs are concerned about the widespread use of detention in outsourcing, as asylum seekers will need to be physically kept inside facilities. The law foresees detention for up to two years in a member state. It does not set a maximum for the detention in an overseas centre, which should be determined in a bilateral agreement and “may be in the short or longer term”.
“The European Commission has caved to the unworkable, expensive and inhumane demands of a few shrill anti-human rights and anti-migration governments,” said Eve Geddie, the director of Amnesty International’s EU office.
“Today’s proposal lays the ground for states to send people to countries to which they have no connection, to languish in detention centres, with little credible guarantees that their rights will be upheld. Frankly, this is a new low for Europe.” During the presentation, Brunner sought to flip the contentious narrative around outsourcing by depicting it as an effort that is, at least, worth trying. “Let’s look into whether it works or not,” he said.
“Let’s be open-minded on those ideas as well. The ‘return hub’ possibility is something new, something different, which we can explore in the different member states,” stated Magnus Brunner.
Many Questions Remain
The EU’s Return Regulation aims to address the gap left in the Pact for Migration and Asylum, which established common rules for the reception and management of asylum seekers. However, the regulation did not address returns, the last stage of the process for asylum seekers whose applications are turned down. The EU has struggled to speed up the rate of effective deportations, which fluctuates between 20 and 25 percent. NGOs have warned that the data behind the return rate is incomplete and should not be used to guide policy-making.
The Commission has responded by enshrining in law the permission to build deportation centres in faraway nations and laying down obligations that rejected asylum seekers must respect, such as providing personal ID, biometric data, contact details, and information on countries they transited.
Those who breach these obligations could face social benefits cut off, travel documents seized, work permits revoked, prolonged bans to enter the EU in the future, and even financial penalties. The law also establishes a fast-tracked procedure to detain and expel asylum seekers who pose “security risks.”
According to Frontex, about 17,000 individuals crossed over the EU’s eastern land border (which includes Ukraine) in 2024. Although returns still behind schedule, the EU’s border agency recorded a 38 percent drop in irregular arrivals last year, the lowest level since 2021. More than 480,000 third-country nationals were ordered to leave the EU in 2023, but only one in five did so, according to Eurostat data.
