BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 20, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The European Union is expected to 
reach a deal Wednesday on a migration reform to create so-called "return 
hubs" outside the bloc, with some states raring to go.

European lawmakers and countries should agree on a tightening of immigration 
rules concocted in response to political pressure across the 27-nation EU to 
curb migration.

"People with no right to stay in the European Union must be returned 
effectively," EU migration chief Magnus Brunner wrote on social media as 
talks were underway.

"This is what the new rules will provide: more control over who can come to 
the EU, who can stay, and who must leave."

Criticised by human rights groups, the measures will notably allow for the 
opening of centres outside the EU's borders to which migrants whose asylum 
applications have been rejected could be sent.

They also envisage harsher penalties for migrants who refuse to leave, 
including detention and entry bans.

Some in the bloc, including France and Spain, have questioned the 
effectiveness of return centres, which the International Rescue Committee 
(IRC), an NGO, has described as "legal black holes".

"Far from fixing the problem they purport to address, i.e. reducing 
irregularity, these proposals risk trapping more people in precarious 
situations, and will cause deep harm to migrants and the communities that 
welcome them alike," said Olivia Sundberg Diez of Amnesty International.

But a group of countries, including Denmark, Austria, Greece, Germany and the 
Netherlands, has nevertheless ploughed ahead exploring options to set them 
up.

Rwanda, Uganda and Uzbekistan are among a dozen nations that have been 
scouted as potential partners to host such centres, sources told AFP in 
April.

One source later confirmed that contacts were ongoing with several nations.

- Deterrent -

European governments have sought a tougher stance amid hardening public 
opinion on migration that has fuelled far-right electoral gains across the 
continent.

With migrant arrivals down, the focus in Brussels has turned to improving the 
repatriation system, which currently sees about 20 percent of people ordered 
to leave actually returned to their country of origin.

As part of the push, the European Commission said this month it invited 
Taliban officials to Brussels for talks on returning migrants to Afghanistan 
in a move fraught with practical and ethical concerns.

Return hubs could facilitate the deportation process, hosting migrants with 
no right to stay in Europe pending repatriation to their home country.

Austria announced in April it would sign a deal with Uzbekistan to that end -
- eyeing in particular the deportation of Afghans.

Proponents say return hubs could act as a deterrent and discourage migrants 
from attempting to reach Europe in the first place.

Critics instead point to the hurdles faced by similar projects.

Britain abandoned a scheme to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda, while 
Italian-run facilities to process migrants in Albania have faced legal 
challenges and a slow uptake.

Irregular border crossings into the EU detected by authorities fell by 40 
percent in the first four months of 2026, compared with the same period last 
year, according to the EU's border control agency.

If EU governments and parliament representatives strike a deal on the reform, 
which follows an European Commission proposal, this would then have to be 
officially endorsed by the European Council representing member states and 
the parliament before it is formally adopted.