Will deportation hubs help speed up migrant returns? - video Dailymotion

euronews (in English)

The Common European System for Returns aims to speed up deportation of asylum seekers who aren't permitted to stay in the European Union. In an unexpected move, it also opens the possibility to build the controversial detention centres outside the bloc.

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00:00There is a new legislative proposal to speed up the deportation of asylum seekers that

00:19didn't get permission to stay in the European Union.

00:23Their claims are processed in state reception centers like this one.

00:29In a move to shore up the asylum and migration rules, the European Commission is even now

00:34considering sending the returnees to deportation centers outside the bloc.

00:39This week's EU Decoded explains the common European system for returns.

00:44The revised regulation fills a gap within the Pact on Migration and Asylum to be implemented

00:50from June 2026.

00:52This specific proposal wants to address the fact that only about 20% of yearly deportation

00:59orders are carried out according to Eurostat.

01:02Lists of safe countries of origin and safe third countries to which people whose asylum

01:07applications are rejected may be sent should be defined.

01:12Deportation centers, called return hubs, could be built in countries outside the EU.

01:18The non-EU countries would receive financial incentives from EU states to host these centers,

01:24but some returnees may never have been in those countries.

01:27We asked Europeans what they think about what people describe as outsourcing of migration policy.

02:27With us is Jorge Liboreri, who has been following migration and asylum policy for Euronews.

02:39Until recently, the European Commission rejected this idea of the so-called deportation centers

02:46in non-EU countries.

02:48What has changed in the meantime?

02:50Well, basically the politics changed.

02:52Europe as a whole has moved further to the right, gradually, and ideas that used to be

02:57more common in far-right circles, hard-right circles, like outsourcing of migration, gradually

03:03moved into the mainstream.

03:05And the Commission responded to this by incorporating the policy into its own policy, but it's really

03:11a normalization of a policy that used to be considered extreme, now it's acceptable.

03:17What could be the role of the European Commission in the eventual setting up of the so-called

03:23return hubs?

03:24Well, the Commission, in its regulation, has done something very interesting.

03:28It has put forward several articles that establish the legal basis for member states to build

03:35these deportation centers outside of the European Union.

03:39But then the Commission will not be involved in the managing of these centers.

03:44So in a way it's saying, you can do it, but I don't want to know anything about this.

03:49That being said, which countries are more likely to support the idea, and which might

03:54be a little bit more against it?

03:57Well, this is an unprecedented idea, so I think some member states will really think

04:01it twice, three times, four times before going ahead with it.

04:06But we can see that Italy, Denmark, and the Netherlands have been leading the political

04:11discussions around outsourcing, bringing other countries in a sort of coalition.

04:16But I think these three countries that led the debate might also lead this push to actually

04:22build the centers, now that the regulation is on the table.

04:26The regulation states that the rejected asylum seeker must cooperate with the authorities,

04:32including providing ID and biometric information, as well as not absconding to another member state.

04:39If the person does not cooperate, the consequences can include reduction or refusal of benefits

04:45and allowances, seizure of identity documents, and longer entry bans.

04:50We discussed the pros and cons with two members of the European Parliament who have very different

04:56positions on this proposal, and that we'll discuss it in the Justice and Human Rights Committee.

05:01It is a global consideration of the migratory phenomenon, from the point of view of the ability

05:15of member states to return.

05:18And in that sense, we do believe that it has all the conditions to be an instrument that

05:23allows a much more effective policy of return.

05:26I think, indeed, it's not the answer that is needed in terms of returns.

05:30I think this return directive is just a political answer to the claims of the far right,

05:37be it Meloni or others, that want to strengthen and to assimilate migration issues with security issues.

05:46And we've seen it all over the place.

05:48And we've seen it all over the place.

06:19There will be no monitoring of fundamental rights, even if it's claimed so.

06:23How will the EU check whether on the ground, in the third countries, the human rights of people will be respected?

06:32We see that already today, without these official apps, there are human rights violations all over the place.

06:48If there is a framework of respect for fundamental rights and the necessary mechanisms to monitor

06:56these fundamental rights, I believe that it will be much easier, from a legal point of view,

07:06that the initiatives of the centers of return can, let's say, pass the judicial control.

07:15The legislators should take that into account.

07:17The whole concept of safe third countries is also being revisited,

07:22which means that there's no guarantee today that those countries are safe for the people that will be sent to them

07:30and that their fundamental rights will be respected.

07:33A European return order is also part of the proposal, so that all member states respect a decision taken in one of them.

07:40So, will this be enough to increase solidarity and cooperation between member states on such a controversial issue such as migration?

07:49Anyway, the concept of fortress Europe seems to be consolidating in a world increasingly concerned by border security.

Will deportation hubs help speed up migrant returns?

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