EU agrees on new deportation rules: Path cleared for return centers in third countries

What are Return Hubs?

Reasons why repatriation to the country of origin fails include the home country's refusal to take back its citizens or the federal government's lack of diplomatic relations with the state in question.

EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner stated in a press release: "With today's agreement, we are taking another important step in the European migration turnaround. Those who have no right to stay in the European Union must also leave it again. With the new rules, we have more control to ensure that returns are consistently implemented. This is what citizens expect – and this is what we are delivering."

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has repeatedly spoken out in favor of return centers. Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) also advocates for asylum procedures in third countries and the return centers there. Karner said: "We are working very concretely on the joint implementation of asylum procedures and return centers outside of Europe."

Stricter obligations and longer detention

Negotiations between Parliament and member states had previously been postponed on May 21 because, according to EU officials, there was no agreement on the implementation deadlines for individual measures. A compromise has now been reached, granting member states more time to adapt national laws. Some provisions will only apply twelve months after the regulation enters into force.

The new rules significantly tighten the obligations for those required to leave. They must cooperate more closely with the authorities, otherwise they face sanctions such as a reduction or cancellation of benefits and the confiscation of travel documents. In addition, entry bans after deportations and the detention of returnees classified as a security risk are facilitated.

Permissible detention pending deportation will be extended to a maximum of 24 months, with a possible extension of a further six months in special cases. Grounds for detention are the risk of flight or a danger to national security.

Unaccompanied minors are explicitly excluded from the new deportation rules. Families with children, on the other hand, can be affected by the measures.

Criticism from human rights organizations

Human rights organizations have expressed concerns about the plans, warning of a "criminalization of migration." Silvia Carta of the aid organization Picum said: "This regulation will create a draconian deportation and detention machine." EU lawmakers had "doubled down on repression and punishment and agreed to a text that will expose hundreds of thousands of people to harm and violence – from detaining people in deportation custody for up to 30 months, to tearing families apart, to deporting people to countries they don't even know."

Member states will in future be obliged to check at an early stage whether a person poses a security risk. If such a risk is identified, strict rules apply. At the same time, incentives for voluntary return are to be strengthened.

The exact locations of the planned return centers are still unclear. According to media reports, Uganda, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, and Uzbekistan are being discussed as possible locations. There is no official information on this.

Possible locations and political background

The agreement on the new asylum rules was prepared by a joint decision of the European People's Party (EPP) under the leadership of Manfred Weber (CSU) and the right-wing faction in the EU Parliament. Research by the German Press Agency revealed that the EPP had cooperated more closely with the right on the issue of migration than previously known, including in a WhatsApp chat group and at a personal meeting of parliamentarians.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) sharply criticized the cooperation, saying: "We do not cooperate with the far-right in the European Parliament." EPP leader Manfred Weber defended the subsequent vote on the controversial migration law, stating that it had clearly shown that European solutions to combat illegal migration were possible.

A legal opinion from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in April concluded that the controversial Italian deportation centers in Albania do not violate EU law. According to this, EU law does not fundamentally prohibit member states from establishing such centers outside their sovereign territory, provided that those affected continue to receive legal and linguistic support and can maintain contact with their families and the responsible authorities. However, a final ruling by the ECJ is still pending.

Legal bases and international models

Italy had concluded an agreement with Albania to outsource both detention pending deportation and asylum procedures there. This model is currently pending before the ECJ due to lawsuits, and a final decision has not yet been made.

The United Kingdom's plan to outsource asylum procedures to third countries based on the Rwanda model has failed. The plan cost around 830 million euros but was never truly implemented due to court decisions. Unlike the EU model, the British model envisaged sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, where they were also supposed to remain after their protection status had been assessed.

The number of asylum applications in the EU has recently been continuously declining. In Germany, the number of asylum applications in May was the lowest since 2020, when restrictions during the Corona pandemic prevented entry. Irregular border crossings into the EU have also recently declined significantly, according to the EU border agency Frontex.

Decline in asylum numbers and outlook

In 2025, according to the European Commission, approximately 28 percent of migrants obliged to leave were actually returned. The aim of the new rules is to enable more deportations and increase this proportion.

The European Parliament and the EU member states still need to formally approve the preliminary agreement in the coming weeks. This is considered a formality. The revision of the Return Directive is one of the core projects of Ursula von der Leyen's Commission and complements the EU Asylum and Migration Pact, which is set to take effect on June 12.