EU Agrees on Rules to Create Third-Country Return Hubs for Rejected Asylum Seekers

European Union lawmakers and member states agreed on Monday on new rules allowing countries to deport migrants ordered to leave the bloc to centers in third countries. The deal creates a legal framework for establishing return hubs outside the EU where individuals whose asylum claims have been rejected or who lack legal status can be sent while their removal is arranged.

Under the rules, participating countries would operate or fund facilities in cooperating third countries.

Migrants could be held at these hubs until deportation proceedings conclude. The agreement does not require every member state to set up such hubs. It instead permits those that choose to do so to transfer individuals under defined conditions.

Officials said the measure aims to improve enforcement of existing return decisions that have often gone unimplemented. Rights groups have warned the arrangement could expose migrants to inadequate protections and limit access to legal remedies.