5 European nations follow U.S. with plans for third-country deportations as EU approves migrant “return hubs”

October 2, 2026 / 12:33 PM EDT / CBS News

Five European Union countries are pushing ahead with plans to start deporting asylum seekers whose applications are rejected to third countries outside the bloc, potentially in Africa, after the EU approved new rules this week that clear the way for the practice.

Greece, Germany, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands have agreed on a common framework to establish "return hubs" outside the EU to which people who have exhausted their legal options to remain in Europe could be transferred if they cannot be sent back to their own countries of origin.

"When it comes to return hubs, it's progressing very well," Danish Interior Minister Morten Bødskov told reporters Thursday, according to AFP. "We are moving in the right direction."

He previously said Denmark expected "to be ready to transfer the first irregular migrants to a partner country outside the EU within 2027."

Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told Politico that Greece expects to have a pilot project in place in the first half of next year.

No potential destinations for EU return hubs have been confirmed, although Rwanda has been reported as a possible partner in the project. A Greek government…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/