Denmark and four other EU countries are developing a model to send migrants with rejected asylum claims to facilities in non-EU nations.

Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Greece have agreed on a framework for establishing "return hubs" in countries outside the European Union. Officials from the five nations announced the plan on Friday following a meeting in Copenhagen, aiming to begin transferring migrants whose asylum requests have been rejected to these third-party locations by 2027.

Implementation and Oversight

The five countries are currently negotiating with governments, primarily in Africa, to secure potential sites for the facilities. Morten Bodskov, Denmark’s minister of immigration and integration, stated that the initiative represents a fundamental transformation of the European migration and asylum system. Addressing concerns regarding the nature of the hubs, Bodskov denied they are intended as detention or deportation centers. He noted that the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency would be tasked with monitoring the facilities to ensure standards are maintained.

Criticism of the Proposal

The plan has faced opposition from human rights organizations. Critics argue that European nations cannot guarantee that the rights of deported migrants will be respected once they are placed in centers or prisons located in third countries.