Five EU nations inch towards deal on migrant ‘return hubs’ by 2027

Germany, Austria, ⁠Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands did not outline where the centres would be located.

Greece is among five EU nations to pursue a deal to transfer migrants outside the bloc [File: Costas Baltas/Reuters]

Five European nations have agreed on concrete steps towards a deal with an unspecified non-European Union country to host migrant return facilities, senior officials said, in a sign of mounting determination to counter immigration.

Germany, Austria, ⁠Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands, known as the Group of Five, aim to sign deals this year to send migrants without legal residency to countries outside the European Union. The nations expected to host return centres have not been named.

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“Around New Year, we expect to have a common understanding with a partner country outside of the European Union,” Danish Immigration and Integration Minister Morten Bodskov told reporters on Friday at a news conference in Copenhagen, without elaborating.

“It’s a new chance to have a life in a partner country,” he said, adding ‌that the five nations would be in dialogue with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on their next steps.

A spokesperson for UNHCR said the agency had not been approached with ‌details ‌of the proposal and therefore could not comment.

The Group of Five is set to reconvene in Munich, Germany, at the end of September to advance the plan.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed that the group wants “to reach an agreement with ‌third countries this year that will enable the establishment of return hubs”.

The European Parliament in June approved an overhaul of migration policy aimed at speeding up deportations and allowing member states to set up centres abroad, in what some critics of the policy say could weaken safeguards for asylum seekers.

The Council of ⁠Europe, a non-EU body that promotes human rights, democracy and the rule of ⁠law, said in July that the proposed return hubs posed “considerable human rights risks”.

Danish Refugee Council Secretary-General Charlotte Slente said a better policy would be to implement the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which focuses ⁠on stricter border screening, faster return procedures and expanded digital systems for managing asylum claims.

“Return hubs focus on a small number of returns; they ⁠will not stop people from taking even more dangerous routes, and ⁠they could violate basic human rights,” she said.

德国、奥地利、希腊、丹麦和荷兰没有具体说明这些中心将设在哪里。

希腊是寻求将移民转移到欧盟以外地区的五个欧盟国家之一。[图片：Costas Baltas/路透社]

五大欧洲国家已就与一个未指明的非欧盟国家达成协议的具体步骤达成一致，该协议旨在为该国提供移民遣返设施。高级官员表示，这表明各国打击移民的决心日益增强。

德国、奥地利、希腊、丹麦和荷兰，即所谓的“五国集团”，计划今年签署协议，将没有合法居留权的移民遣送至欧盟以外的国家。目前尚未公布哪些国家将设立遣返中心。

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丹麦移民和融合部长莫滕·博德斯科夫周五在哥本哈根举行的新闻发布会上告诉记者：“我们预计在新年前后与欧盟以外的一个伙伴国家达成共识”，但他没有详细说明。

“这是一个在伙伴国家开启新生活的机会，”他说道，并补充说，这五个国家将与国际移民组织和联合国难民署就下一步行动进行对话。

联合国难民署发言人表示，该机构尚未收到有关该提案的详细信息，因此无法置评。

五国集团将于9月底在德国慕尼黑再次召开会议，推进该计划。

德国联邦内政部长亚历山大·多布林特证实，该组织希望“今年与第三国达成协议，从而建立返程中心”。

欧洲议会6月批准了一项移民政策改革，旨在加快遣返速度，并允许成员国在国外设立中心。一些批评人士表示，这项政策可能会削弱对寻求庇护者的保障。

欧洲委员会是一个非欧盟机构，致力于促进人权、民主和法治。该委员会在7月份表示，拟议的遣返中心存在“相当大的人权风险”。

丹麦难民理事会秘书长夏洛特·斯伦特表示，更好的政策是实施欧盟《移民和庇护协议》，该协议侧重于更严格的边境检查、更快的遣返程序和扩大用于管理庇护申请的数字系统。

“返程中心只关注少量返程；它们无法阻止人们选择更加危险的路线，而且它们可能会侵犯基本人权，”她说。