The Returns Regulation was proposed by the European Commission<\/a> in March 2025. Its general approach was agreed by the Council of Ministers<\/a> in December 2025, and it was endorsed by the European Parliament<\/a> on March 26.<\/p>\n The legislative process is now entering the last stages of negotiations. It is expected that the Returns Regulation, including the legal provisions for return hubs, will be adopted before the summer to replace the 2008 Returns Directive<\/a>.<\/p>\n What\u2019s in the proposal?<\/p>\n Attempts to establish return hubs date back to the 1980s, though none were successful. One of the most prominent was the UK\u2019s 2003 proposal<\/a> to the European Council to establish regional centres for the management of irregular migration. It was heavily criticised and did not obtain support among the other 13 EU Member States at the time.<\/p>\n More recently, in 2024, Italy established migrant detention centres<\/a> in Albania. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has cited the centres<\/a> as a model for EU-wide migration management.<\/p>\n The recently approved draft of the Returns Regulation allows for return hubs to be set up in third countries with whom the EU has made an agreement.<\/p>\n Such agreements can only be concluded with a designated \u201cthird country\u201d where international human rights law is respected. This includes the principle of non-refoulement, which prevents individuals from being sent to territories where their life or physical integrity are at risk.<\/p>\n However, my own research<\/a> argues that for a third country agreement to be fully in compliance with States\u2019 obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, it must always guarantee the full range of refugee rights. These include the right to asylum, as well as socio-economic rights guaranteed by the Refugee Convention. It also means providing access to public education, employment, housing, social security, and courts.<\/p>\n None of these rights are explicitly guaranteed in the draft Returns Regulation. Sending refugees to countries outside the EU runs the risk that refugees may never be granted the full range of rights that they are entitled to under the Refugee Convention.<\/p>\n How the law makes return hubs possible<\/p>\n Return hubs are made possible by the combined effect of the new Returns Regulation and other instruments in the 2024 Pact on Migration and Asylum.<\/p>\n In particular, the \u201csafe third country\u201d concept in the 2024 Asylum Procedures Regulation has been expanded by a new Regulation<\/a>, which was adopted in February 2026.<\/p>\n This concept allows Member States to reject asylum applications outright, without examining the merits of the claim, on the basis that the applicant would be safe from danger or persecution in a \u201csafe third country\u201d outside the EU. These are countries that have an agreement with the EU (or with its Member States), in which they commit to examine asylum applications made by individuals rejected by the EU.<\/p>\n However, even when an applicant does not meet the criteria to be considered a refugee or a person otherwise in need of international protection, international human rights law may still impose obligations of non-return<\/a> on EU Member States.<\/p>\n While individuals have the right to appeal the decision that a country is \u201csafe\u201d for them, the new Regulation means they may not have the right to stay in the territory of the Member State concerned while the court examines that appeal.<\/p>\n By sending applicants abroad to non-EU countries, the new rules could make it all but impossible to exercise EU-guaranteed rights. This includes the right to asylum and the right to an effective remedy<\/a>, which expressly encompasses the possibility of being advised, defended and represented in court.<\/p>\n What will the new law mean for migrants?<\/p>\n The system designed by the EU will result in both individuals and families with children being deported to countries where they have no links. They will be subject to detention outside the EU, under conditions that will be difficult to monitor.<\/p>\n Children are of particular concern. The EU\u2019s own data<\/a> shows that thousands of minors, including those travelling with families, go missing after arriving in Europe. Many are feared to be exploited and abused for sexual or labour purposes.<\/p>\n If these issues arise within Europe\u2019s borders \u2013 where immigration detention is governed by rule of law standards<\/a> developed by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the EU \u2013 they will undoubtedly be much harder to monitor outside the EU.<\/p>\n With this new system, Europe is departing from its historical role in championing and establishing the international regime for the protection of human rights in the early 20th century. As the world sees more victims of conflict, human rights violations and persecution than ever before<\/a>, such a regime is now more necessary than ever.<\/p>\n A weekly e-mail in English featuring expertise from scholars and researchers. It provides an introduction to the diversity of research coming out of the continent and considers some of the key issues facing European countries. 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