Greece and four EU partners plan first deportation centre outside the EU

Greece together with Germany, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands are preparing a joint “deportation centre” outside the European Union for people whose asylum claims have been finally rejected, with the first facility possibly opening in 2027, the Greek migration minister said on October 1, 2026.

Plan, legal basis and a partner state

In an interview with Greek TV ANT1, Thanos Plevris said that “the first of these ‘return centres’ should start operating in the second half of 2027.” He added that the five countries – often referred to as the “five” in diplomatic reporting – already have the financial responsibility for the project and that a partner country in Africa has given assent, although he did not name which state. Media and diplomatic circles have suggested Rwanda, Uganda or even Uzbekistan in Central Asia as possible locations.

Officials stress these would not be closed detention camps where asylum claims are processed; instead the plan foresees “open facilities” used as transit points while final arrangements are made to return rejected applicants to their countries of origin. To avoid legal challenges over human-rights responsibilities, the five EU states involved would retain responsibility for the people housed there and would finance the operation themselves.

The proposal foresees international monitoring by organisations such as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to ensure compliance with international human‑rights standards and legal principles.

Previous attempts to shift asylum procedures or carry out deportations outside the EU repeatedly failed for legal, political or financial reasons. Notable examples include the UK’s Rwanda plan (2022–2024), which the UK Supreme Court ruled unlawful and which cost the British government roughly 700 million pounds while only four people were voluntarily relocated; Italy’s post‑2024 agreement with Albania, where courts blocked transfers and one camp was later repurposed to hold roughly 500 men by March 2025; and Denmark’s unilateral efforts (2021–2023) that stalled amid legal and logistical objections.

Supporters of the new joint initiative say recent changes in European asylum law — including a political agreement on an EU Return Regulation reached in June 2026 and approved by the European Parliament, though still awaiting formal adoption by the Council — provide the legal ground to deport individuals to third countries even if they have no prior link to those states, provided there is a bilateral agreement. Critics, including Médecins Sans Frontières and Amnesty International, warn that independent oversight, effective legal aid and reliable medical care may be impossible to guarantee consistently, and they fear some partner states could later remove people onward to unsafe homelands without adequate checks.

Costs remain a central point of contention: past projects show construction, security and transport frequently run into the hundreds of millions of euros while returning only limited numbers of people, raising doubts about the effectiveness of externalised deportation centres.

Photo: press material from the event