Brussels/Berlin, 23 September 2026 — As European interior ministers gather in Munich this weekend, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that further exploration of "return hubs" in third countries, and proposals to introduce flexibility into standard asylum procedures, could mark a historic setback for refugee rights in Europe.
On the margins of the Munich meeting, Greece, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark are expected to coordinate on next steps for return hubs in third countries, with Uganda and Rwanda reportedly considered as options. The first pilot return hub could accommodate up to 10,000 rejected asylum-seekers and could become operational during Greece's EU Council presidency in 2027. Separately, Italy has proposed EU-funded return hubs modelled on its Albania scheme, with a preliminary list of potential partner countries including Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Egypt, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Montenegro and Ethiopia.
"What I saw in Albania's detention centres confirms what the IRC has been warning since these plans were first revealed: this is a cruel and costly approach that strips people of their dignity and basic rights," said Flaminia Delle Cese, the IRC's Head of Policy, Advocacy and Communications in Italy, who visited the Albanian hubs twice this summer. "These centres should never have existed. Moving people to closed facilities outside EU soil punishes individuals who are already navigating an increasingly complex migration system. This or similar models must never become a blueprint for the EU's approach to asylum and migration."
At the same time, new proposals to allow temporary flexibility in standard asylum procedures for "large-scale migration movements" - tabled by Greece's migration minister and echoed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - signal a further troubling direction of travel ahead of the Munich summit.
"People fleeing conflict and disaster must be treated with dignity and given fair, lawful access to asylum procedures, not detained or turned away," added Marta Welander, EU Advocacy Director at the IRC. "Europe needs a migration system that is humane, orderly, and grounded in international law. That means assessing every asylum claim individually and ensuring nobody is returned to danger."
