Five EU countries say they expect to be ready to send irregular migrants to deportation centres built outside the European Union by 2027. The announcement came after a meeting in Copenhagen on Friday attended by the interior ministers of Denmark, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece.
The ministers agreed on a common model for "return hubs" — facilities set to host asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected by the five countries and who cannot be returned to their countries of origin.
The five-state group is currently negotiating the creation of the hubs on the territory of one or more partner countries, which have not yet been disclosed. Uganda and Rwanda are seen as the most likely possibilities, according to several press reports.
"Today's guiding principle forms the basis for the way forward [...] to be ready to transfer the first irregular migrants to a partner country outside of the EU in 2027," said Danish Migration Minister Morten Bødskov.
He claimed that the hubs are not "a prison" or "a detention camp", but facilities where "partner countries give irregular migrants a new chance".
