Five EU Nations Propose First African Return Hub by 2027

A coalition of five European Union member states—Greece, Germany, Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands—is moving forward with plans to establish the bloc’s first return hub in Africa, targeting a launch in the second half of 2027. The initiative, described by proponents as a legal workaround to longstanding migration deadlocks, comes as the EU seeks to streamline the deportation of individuals whose asylum claims have been denied.

Thanos Plevris, Greece’s Minister of Migration, confirmed the timeline during an interview with Greek broadcaster ANT1. He noted that the pilot center would be operational in time for Greece to hold the EU Council Presidency later that year. While Plevris declined to name the specific African host nation, unconfirmed reports from diplomatic sources and EU-aligned media have suggested Rwanda or Uganda as potential locations.

Plevris emphasized that the proposed facilities would differ significantly from previous controversial models. “We are not talking about centers in the sense that someone whose asylum application is rejected is sent to a closed facility in a third country,” he stated. Instead, the plan calls for “open facilities” where individuals would remain during the logistical processing of their repatriation to their countries of origin.

A key distinction of this new framework is that legal responsibility for the transferred individuals will remain with the five participating EU states, not the host African nation. This arrangement is designed to shield the project from human rights litigation. The coalition will fully fund the project, and operations will be supervised by international bodies such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to ensure compliance with international law.

The proposal follows a history of failed attempts to outsource asylum processing. The UK’s “Rwanda Model,” active between 2022 and 2024, was struck down by the British Supreme Court, which ruled it illegal due to risks of refoulement. The UK spent approximately £715 million on the scheme, yet only four people were voluntarily relocated. Similarly, Italy’s agreement with Albania, launched in 2024, faced immediate legal challenges. Italian courts halted the initial deportations, arguing that countries of origin like Bangladesh or Egypt cannot be broadly classified as safe. Italy has since repurposed one Albanian camp strictly for deportation, costing an estimated €670 million by 2028 with roughly 500 people transferred since March 2025.

Denmark also attempted standalone negotiations with Rwanda in 2021 but suspended them in early 2023 due to legal and logistical impossibilities. Those efforts have now shifted toward the current multilateral EU approach.

Legal experts note that a revised EU asylum law and the recently agreed-upon EU Return Regulation provide a new statutory basis for these hubs. Unlike previous directives, the regulation applies directly to member states and allows for transfers to safe third countries without requiring a prior personal connection, such as language skills or family ties, provided a formal agreement exists with the third country.

However, the plan has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations. Groups including Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International have expressed concern over the adequacy of oversight and the availability of legal representation and medical care within the hubs. Critics also warn that without rigorous assessment, there remains a risk that host countries could deport individuals back to unsafe environments. Furthermore, historical data suggests that the construction and security costs of such centers often run into hundreds of millions of euros, while the actual number of successful returns remains comparatively low.