“Return hubs”: the EU greenlights centers to send migrants back outside of Europe

On Monday, June 1, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission reached a political compromise on the so-called “return” regulation, which notably includes the creation of “return hubs” – platforms located in third countries outside European territory where nationals of third countries whose asylum requests have been rejected or who are in irregular situations would be sent. The agreement, announced in the evening, will still need to be confirmed by a vote in the European Parliament and the Council in the coming weeks to come into formal effect.

The return hubs would serve as transit centers outside the EU to which individuals who have received an obligation to leave the territory (OQT) would be transferred “temporarily,” according to the chosen wording, until Frontex or the concerned member state organizes their return to their country of origin. These platforms should be located in countries that the EU considers “safe,” with which each member state can establish bilateral readmission agreements. Several options would then remain available for the individuals involved – return to their country of origin, transfer to another third country, or stay in the partner country. The exact modalities – maximum duration of stay, procedural guarantees, reception conditions – will be the subject of negotiations in the trilogue finalized this evening, the complete text of which was not yet public at the time of publication.

The text also provides for an extension of the maximum duration of administrative detention from 18 to 24 months, the possibility of detaining unaccompanied minors and families with children under certain circumstances, and a strengthening of sanctions against individuals who do not comply with expulsion decisions.

A coalition of the right and far-right in the European Parliament

The return regulation was approved in a plenary session of the European Parliament on March 26, 2026, with 389 votes in favor, 206 against, and 32 abstentions – a majority achieved thanks to the alliance between the European People’s Party (EPP), the nationalist conservatives of the ECR group, and the ID sovereignty group. The centrist pro-European groups (Renew Europe) and the Greens voted against, denouncing violations of fundamental rights.

The regulation presented by the Commission in March 2025 complements the Migration and Asylum Pact adopted in June 2024, which is set to come into effect in June 2026. It repeals and replaces the “return” directive of 2008, which, according to the Commission, led to an enforcement rate of expulsion decisions of about 20% – with only one in five foreigners who received an order to leave European territory actually doing so.

Human rights organizations against the text

Several organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, expressed their reservations during the parliamentary consultation phases. They pointed out the risks of violations of fundamental rights related to the detention of minors and families, the uncertainty regarding reception conditions in the partner third countries, and the risk of individuals being kept in “hubs” without a clear perspective for a sustainable solution.

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) indicated that “the exact form of these platforms remains vague” and that “it is not clear how long these migrants will stay in these return hubs,” according to an analysis provided to MEPs before the March vote.

The model of return hubs is inspired by previous arrangements implemented bilaterally – notably the Italian-Albanian agreement signed in 2023, which provided for the sending of rescued asylum seekers at sea to two centers built in Albania, and which had been partially suspended by the Italian judiciary for incompatibility with European law before being reactivated after modifications. The return regulation aims to provide this type of arrangements with a harmonized legal framework across the 27.