EU Eyes Offshore Return Hubs for Deportations, Sparking Rights Debates

EU lawmakers and governments agreed on rules to deport migrants ordered to leave the bloc to third-country “return hubs,” a plan that still needs formal approval and has drawn sharp rights criticisms. The draft would expand detention, extend penalties, allow the seizure of belongings, biometric data collection, and home searches, and permit sending deportees to hubs outside the EU in countries with which migrants have no ties. Host countries have not been disclosed. While the Commission says the system would streamline expulsions while upholding rights, rights groups warn it could become a draconian deportation regime. Some countries, notably the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Austria, are already exploring joint hubs, with Uganda talks paused, as asylum pressures persist.