{"id":881329,"date":"2026-04-09T01:00:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/881329\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T01:00:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:00:37","slug":"out-of-sight-eu-lawmakers-fight-over-migrant-return-hubs-on-the-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/881329\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOut of sight?\u201d EU lawmakers fight over migrant return hubs on The Ring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n         Published on<br \/>\n            08\/04\/2026 &#8211; 20:30 GMT+2\n            <\/p>\n<p>After years of working closely on EU migration files and spending hours in tense committee meetings, this week MEPs Juan Fernando L\u00f3pez Aguilar and Lena D\u00fcpont meet on The Ring. Vehemently opposed on how to handle EU asylum procedures, they took completely different stances on the recent EU reform that would allow EU member states to establish so-called \u201cmigration return hubs\u201d in third countries. <\/p>\n<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-ad__placeholder__logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\" width=\"72\" height=\"72\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n          ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-ad__placeholder__logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\" width=\"72\" height=\"72\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n          ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>The measure, voted on 26 March, would see rejected asylum seekers be transferred to external facilities outside EU borders while awaiting return to their country of origin. Supporters say it could help address a long-standing gap in the system. <\/p>\n<p>For German MEP Lena D\u00fcpont from the centre-right European People\u2019s Party, the policy is long overdue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the missing piece of the puzzle,\u201d she said, arguing that the EU has already invested heavily in its asylum system but lacks an effective return mechanism. With only around 20% of those ordered to leave actually returned, she stressed that \u201can effective return policy is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Juan Fernando L\u00f3pez Aguilar from the Socialists &amp; Democrats strongly opposed this approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReturn hubs are not the answer \u2014 particularly when they are outside the borders of the European Union,\u201d he said, warning that such centres \u201chave no guarantees of respect for fundamental rights\u201d and risk placing migrants beyond the remit of EU law.<\/p>\n<p>L\u00f3pez Aguilar also accused the centre-right of aligning with far-right groups to push through tougher migration measures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s been a new majority,\u201d he said, criticising what he sees as a shift toward more hardline policies.<\/p>\n<p>This episode of The Ring is anchored by M\u00e9abh Mc Mahon, produced by Luis Albertos and Amaia Echevarria, and edited by Vassilis Glynos.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Watch The Ring on Euronews TV or in the player above and send us your views by writing to thering@euronews.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 08\/04\/2026 &#8211; 20:30 GMT+2 After years of working closely on EU migration files and spending hours&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,20730,27748,15286],"class_list":["post-881329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-parliament","tag-migration-pact","tag-migration-policy"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116372047732409717","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}