EU return hubs outside the European Union should become a joint European project governed by EU law, international obligations and agreements with third countries, according to principles agreed by Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Greece. Meeting in Copenhagen on Friday, the five governments said they want to move from political discussions to a concrete model, while Denmark expects the first transfers to take place during 2027.
Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration (Udlændinge- og integrationsminister) Morten Bødskov said the governments aim to reach an agreement with a country outside the EU around the turn of the year. He did not identify which country is being considered.
The initiative comes as the European Union is itself moving towards allowing return hubs as part of a broader tightening of its return policy. Human rights organisations and the Council of Europe, however, have warned that transferring people to centres outside the EU could create serious risks for fundamental rights and make effective oversight more difficult.
Denmark wants EU return hubs operating in 2027
The five governments agreed on three principles for the project.
First, they argue that return hubs should contribute to a measurable reduction in irregular migration to the EU and weaken the business model of smugglers organising dangerous journeys towards Europe.
Second, the system should be a joint European initiative and operate in accordance with EU law and the participating countries’ international obligations, particularly human rights standards.
Third, the hubs would have to be established through partnerships with countries outside the European Union.
According to Reuters, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the group wants to reach agreements with third countries this year. The five governments are expected to continue their discussions at another meeting in Munich later in September.
Bødskov said Denmark expects to be able to send the first people to a return hub during 2027. He described the scheme as offering people without a right to remain in Europe a possibility to build a new life in a partner country.
The governments also intend to discuss the project with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). UNHCR told Reuters that it had not yet received a detailed proposal and therefore could not assess the arrangements being discussed.
Return hubs are becoming part of EU migration policy
The Copenhagen initiative is developing alongside a wider change in European migration policy.
In June, the European Parliament and the Council reached an agreement on a new Common European System for Returns, designed to complement the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. The European Commission says the framework allows governments to establish return hubs in third countries for people who have received a return decision and no longer have a legal right to stay in the EU.
Such arrangements must involve countries that respect international human rights standards, including the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to places where they face serious threats to their safety or fundamental rights.
The EU framework also requires individual return decisions, judicial remedies and safeguards for vulnerable people. Unaccompanied minors are excluded from arrangements involving return hubs under the text agreed by EU lawmakers.
Denmark occupies a particular position in this debate because of its opt-out from parts of EU justice and home affairs cooperation. It is therefore not automatically bound by the new EU Return Regulation. Copenhagen is nevertheless pushing for return hubs to be developed as a European rather than purely Danish project, together with governments participating fully in EU migration legislation.
Human rights bodies warn about oversight outside the EU
The attempt to externalise part of the return process has faced substantial criticism.
In July, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty wrote directly to the five governments warning that return hubs present considerable human rights risks.
He called for four safeguards before such centres are established: comprehensive assessments of direct and indirect human rights risks, independent and continuous monitoring, legally binding agreements containing enforceable human rights clauses, and sufficient transparency to allow parliamentary, judicial and public scrutiny.
The concern is not only whether the partner country formally accepts international human rights standards, but also how European governments could guarantee that those rights are respected in practice once people have been transferred outside their territory.
The Danish Refugee Council (Dansk Flygtningehjælp) has been more directly critical. Secretary General Charlotte Slente said after the Copenhagen meeting that return hubs risk becoming “human rights blind spots” where people could have limited access to services and legal protection.
The organisation also argues that previous attempts to externalise migration management have been expensive, legally complicated and ineffective at significantly changing migration patterns.
Slente said governments should instead concentrate on implementing the recently introduced EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which has applied since June 2026 and already provides for stronger border procedures, faster asylum decisions and a more coordinated European migration system.
The partner country will be the decisive test
The agreement in Copenhagen therefore does not yet establish a return hub. The five governments have agreed on the political principles that should govern one and are now seeking a third country willing to participate.
The identity of that partner, the legal status of people transferred there, access to courts and legal assistance, independent monitoring and the possibility of suspending transfers in case of abuses will determine whether the project can meet the human rights requirements its promoters have promised to respect.
For Denmark, the initiative is also an attempt to influence European migration policy despite its special legal position within EU justice and home affairs cooperation. If the five governments reach an agreement with a third country as planned, 2027 could become the first practical test of return hubs as a coordinated European migration policy rather than a series of separate national experiments.
