Key facts
- Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands have met regularly to prepare the Rwanda deportation hub deal, according to three people familiar with the scheme.
- The deal covers only asylum seekers who have exhausted all options for legal residence in the EU and were rejected, the report said.
- The countries previously said they aimed to close the first deals on offshore centers in 2026 and make them operational as of next year.
- The Rwanda hub would be a pilot project, with deals involving other countries and other EU members likely to follow, according to the report.
- A recent reform of EU rules allows member states to set up such hubs with other countries if they meet international human rights standards.
- Human rights groups have warned the hubs risk human rights abuses, far from EU oversight or recourse, the report said.
Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands are set to announce a deal on Monday to send rejected migrants to a deportation hub in Rwanda, three people familiar with the scheme told POLITICO. The announcement is expected in Vienna.
The five countries have been meeting regularly to lay the groundwork for a deal to set up centers outside EU territory to which they can deport migrants without a legal right to stay in the EU. The anticipated deal would apply only to asylum seekers who have already run through all of their options for securing legal residence in the EU and were rejected.
The countries previously confirmed that they aim to close the first deals to set up the offshore centers in 2026, with plans to make them operational as of next year. The Rwanda hub would function as a pilot project, and deals with other countries and involving other EU countries are likely to follow, according to the report.
A recent reform of EU rules made it possible for member states to cut deals to set up such deportation hubs with other countries on the condition that they meet international human rights standards. Specifics of the scheme, including the nationalities of the people moved to the hubs, their living conditions there and oversight of the deal, all depend on the agreement the countries reach.
Human rights groups have warned that the hubs risk opening the door to human rights abuses, far removed from EU oversight or recourse.
Plans by the Conservative British government to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda were rejected by the U.K. Supreme Court in 2023, which ruled the scheme unlawful. After taking power in 2024, the Labour government shelved the plans, with then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling the Rwanda plan "dead and buried." The U.K. had aimed to move people to Rwanda to process their applications remotely, whereas the EU countries' deal would target people who have been ordered to leave the bloc's territory.