Overview
- On Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Greece and the Netherlands met to advance concrete talks on creating outside‑EU 'return hubs' to hold and process migrants whose asylum claims were rejected.
- Denmark’s migration minister said his country expects to start sending migrants to partner‑country hubs by 2027 and hopes for a principle agreement near the turn of the year.
- Negotiations are most advanced with Rwanda and Uganda, with delegations visiting Kigali to discuss hosting arrangements and operational details for the proposed centres.
- Human-rights groups including Amnesty International warn the hubs could enable arbitrary detention, mistreatment and illegal expulsions, citing documented rights problems in the candidate partner states.
- Key legal and financial questions remain unresolved: the European Commission is not part of the five‑state talks, funding must be decided at the October European Council, and similar extraterritorial schemes have faced court challenges and political rejection elsewhere.