KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Five European Union member states are seeking to reach an agreement with a non-EU country to establish a so-called “return centre” for migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected.
Officials from Denmark, Greece, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands are holding talks on the initiative in Copenhagen, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Danish Immigration Minister Morten Bodskov said the countries expected to reach a common understanding with a partner country outside the European Union around the New Year.
“Around New Year, we expect to have a common understanding with a partner country outside of the European Union,” Bodskov said.
The country or countries involved in the negotiations have not been identified. Uganda and Rwanda, however, have been mentioned as possible options.
Greece’s Minister for Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, said upon arriving at the meeting that the goal was to have a return centre in a non-EU country operational by 2027.
Denmark has previously said it is prepared to begin sending rejected asylum seekers to such centres by the end of 2027, rather than at the beginning of the year.
In an earlier statement, Bødskov said Denmark would not accept a situation in which foreign nationals staying illegally in the country effectively benefited from difficulties in carrying out their deportations.
The initiative follows the European Parliament’s approval in June of stricter migration rules that significantly expand authorities’ powers to detain migrants and provide for the establishment of return centres.
The five ministers are expected to hold another meeting in Munich at the end of September to discuss the proposed return hubs.
Any agreements reached with non-EU countries will set out how migrants transferred to the return hubs will be treated, including the rules governing their stay and the responsibilities of the participating EU member states.
The ministers said the initiative would be implemented in cooperation with international organisations, including the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). They also stressed that the scheme would have to comply fully with EU legislation and international legal obligations.
Interest in the return-hub model appears to be growing across the EU, with Italy already pursuing a similar arrangement in Albania.
In a joint letter to EU leaders in June, 19 EU governments described such arrangements as an “innovative solution” for managing migration. Their support suggests that return hubs could become operational sooner rather than later.
The proposal comes amid broader efforts across parts of the European Union to increase the return of rejected asylum seekers and foreign nationals who have been convicted of serious crimes or deemed security threats.
However, the proposal has triggered concerns over whether return hubs can be reconciled with EU law and existing human rights protections. European civil society groups and non-governmental organisations have strongly criticised the initiative, warning about the legal and humanitarian implications of transferring migrants to facilities outside the EU.
On June 23, the European Commission and representatives of 15 EU member states held a technical meeting in Brussels with a Taliban delegation to discuss the return of Afghan nationals who have no legal right to remain in Europe, particularly those convicted of serious crimes or considered security risks. The meeting was part of wider EU efforts to improve cooperation on deportation and return procedures.
Germany has already resumed deportations to Afghanistan. In August 2024, it deported 28 Afghan nationals with criminal records, becoming the first European country to return Afghans to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan since the group seized power in 2021. A second deportation operation followed in July 2025, when Germany returned 81 Afghan men, all of whom had previously come to the attention of German judicial authorities.
By July 2026, German authorities had carried out five deportation operations to Afghanistan, returning a total of 215 Afghan nationals, according to German media reports cited by KabulNow.
European governments are stepping up efforts to tighten migration controls and return people who have exhausted their legal avenues to remain. The resumption of deportations to Afghanistan, however, has drawn concern from human rights organizations, which warn about the safety and treatment of returnees under Taliban rule amid the country’s continuing political and humanitarian crisis.
