EU Adopts Rule Allowing Member States to Place Rejected Asylum Seekers in Third‑Country Return Hubs

Overview

• The European Parliament approved the new return regulation on Wednesday, June 17, creating a legal route for member states to sign agreements that would host rejected asylum seekers in retention centres outside the EU.
• French President Emmanuel Macron publicly rejected the idea of external hubs on June 19 and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued a formal warning on June 20 about the risk of rights violations, especially for children.
• Several governments including Italy, Denmark and Austria signalled support or intent to explore the hubs as a way to raise low enforcement rates, which currently see only about 20% of expulsion orders lead to actual returns.
• Rights groups and legal experts say the measure risks breaching non‑refoulement rules, could allow detention of vulnerable people and might permit removals to proceed before appeals are decided, raising due‑process concerns.
• Next steps require negotiating host‑country deals — reports name Rwanda, Uganda and Kazakhstan as possible partners — and the talks will determine oversight, legal remedies and the policy’s impact on EU relations with African states.