Greece, Denmark, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands agreed to create general model of migrant return centers – Return Hubs — on the territory of countries outside the European Union.
The decision was made on September 4 at a meeting of the so-called Core Group in Copenhagen. It includes five EU countries, which in recent months have been most actively promoting the idea of moving part of the migration system outside the EU.
The Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum officially announced that the participants moved from political declarations to “specific and applicable plan” establishing Return Hubs in safe third countries.
Official message from the Greek Ministry of Migration
Who will be sent to Return Hubs
We are not talking about people who have just applied for asylum.
The new model is intended primarily for foreigners who permanently denied international protectionwho are obliged to leave the territory of the European Union but who, for legal, diplomatic or practical reasons, cannot be immediately returned to their country of origin.
It is this problem that European governments call one of the main weaknesses of the current migration system: the decision to deport exists, but the person continues to remain in the EU for months or even years.
“Athens News” examined this mechanism in detail back in June in the material “Greek migration reform: what is actually changing”.
They want to launch the first center in 2027
After a meeting in Copenhagen, the five states agreed on a common schedule.
The goal is to conclude an agreement with at least one third country as quickly as possible so that the first Return Hub can start operating already in 2027.
Denmark says it expects to begin actually moving migrants to such centers by the end of 2027.
Technical and diplomatic negotiations are currently underway with potential partner states.
Where centers can appear
The partner countries have not yet been officially named.
The Greek Ministry of Migration indicates that negotiations are being conducted primarily with safe states outside the EU, especially in Africa.
European media previously mentioned Rwanda and other African states as possible options, but at the moment no specific country has been officially confirmed as the future host of the center.
Therefore, it is premature to say that Return Hubs have already been decided to be located, for example, in Rwanda or Uganda.
Who will pay for it
The financial model has not yet been fully disclosed.
The main costs are expected to be borne by the participating European states.
The possibility of providing host countries with financial assistance, investment, trade agreements and other economic incentives.
In fact, we are talking about a model in which a third country agrees to accept people subject to expulsion from the EU, and Europe finances the infrastructure and related programs.
Plevris: negotiations have become “deeper and more productive”
Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Thanos Plevris said after the meeting that negotiations with potential partners are already at an advanced stage.
“Contacts are becoming deeper and more productive, and we are particularly optimistic that very soon we will be able to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that will allow this model to launch.”
Greece sees Return Hubs as a continuation of tougher immigration policies introduced in 2026.
Parliament has previously adopted regulations speeding up the deportation of people whose asylum has been permanently rejected and creating a legal framework for sending such people to centers outside the EU.
The Athens News also reported that in the first half of 2026, the number of migrant returns from Greece increased by about 20%.
This is no longer an experiment of one country
Politically, it is especially important that we are no longer talking about a separate national project.
Just a few years ago, moving migration centers outside of Europe was perceived as a controversial idea for individual states – primarily Denmark, Italy and the UK.
Now five EU countries are creating a joint model, and the European Commission is participating in the process as an observer.
This shows that the idea extraterritorial placement of people subject to returnis gradually turning from a political experiment into one of the elements of pan-European migration policy.
Human rights activists warn of risks
It is this aspect that causes the most serious controversy.
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights previously warned five governments that Return Hubs could pose serious risks to migrants’ rights.
He demanded that any agreements include independent monitoring, legally binding guarantees, the possibility of judicial review and a mechanism for immediate termination of the program if violations occur.
Position of the Council of Europe
The main legal question is who will be responsible for a person after he is sent outside the EU and what happens if he cannot be returned to his home country for a long time.
For Greece, this is a logical continuation of the new policy
For Athens, participation in the project is not a surprise.
Greece has been consistently tightening its migration policy for several months now: speeding up the processing of applications, expanding the possibilities of administrative detention, increasing the number of forced and voluntary returns and strengthening cooperation with Frontex.
In May, the Athens News reported in detail on how new migration reform changes asylum and deportation system.
Editorial comment
The main thing in Copenhagen’s decision is not the very appearance of the phrase Return Hubs. Europe has been discussing this idea for several years.
The news is that five EU states are now trying turn it into a working mechanismwith a general legal model, financing and agreement with a specific third country.
Essentially, Europe is trying to solve a problem that has not been resolved within the EU for years: what to do with a person who has been permanently rejected for asylum, but his home country does not accept him back or return is impossible.
From the government’s point of view, the answer seems rational: if a person does not have the right to remain in the EU, he should not remain in Europe indefinitely just because the deportation mechanism does not work.
But this is where the main controversy begins.
If a migrant is sent to an African country with which he has no connection, in fact Europe transfers part of its migration responsibility to a third state.
Therefore, the success or failure of Return Hubs will depend not so much on whether it will be possible to build the first center in 2027, but on three things: conditions of detention, the real possibility of the subsequent return of people and the legal responsibility of European states for what happens outside their territory.
But the political direction is already obvious: Europe is gradually moving from a policy of “accept and consider” to a policy of “refuse and actually withdraw outside the EU”. In this process, Greece found itself not on the periphery, but among the five countries that are now forming a new model.
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