Overview

• Germany’s interior minister outlined plans for third‑country return hubs to host people rejected for asylum who cannot be sent home, seeking a coalition of willing states outside a full EU rollout.
• His package includes removing the suspensive effect of appeals for inadmissible claims, allowing indefinite deportation detention for criminals and security threats, expanding cross‑border enforcement, and using AI translation tools in procedures.
• Alexander Dobrindt called the initiative the beginning of a process and said new or clarified EU legal bases are needed before any hubs could operate.
• EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner attended with ministers from Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland, as France stayed away due to government formation; no joint communiqué was issued.
• Discussions referenced the Dutch–Uganda return‑hub memorandum as a limited test case, while refugee groups protested outside and warned against hardening asylum rules.