EU Pushes 24-Month Migrant Return Hubs for 2027 as Rights Groups Warn of 'European Guantánamos'
Updated
Updated · Truthdig · Aug 17
EU Pushes 24-Month Migrant Return Hubs for 2027 as Rights Groups Warn of 'European Guantánamos'
3 articles · Updated · Truthdig · Aug 17
Summary
Article 17 of the EU’s new Return Regulation allows member states to send migrants already under deportation orders to third-country “return hubs” for up to 24 months, with backers aiming to open the system by January 2027.
The push accelerated after about 70,000 Moroccans surged into Spain’s Ceuta enclave in under 48 hours, prompting an emergency ministers’ meeting and renewed calls from Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen.
Supporters cite Europe’s weak deportation record—only 28% of people given return notices are actually removed—but critics say offshore hubs would strip migrants of access to lawyers, courts and civil society oversight.
Italy is promoting Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana among possible host countries, while other governments are also examining states including Tunisia, Libya and Egypt despite documented abuses such as torture, arbitrary detention and discrimination.
Italy’s Albania facility has become a model and warning sign: 183 migrants were sent there between April and October 2025, five were deported directly, and the project is estimated to cost 670 million euros over five years.