The European Parliament voted to advance sweeping immigration reforms that would allow the European Union to deport rejected asylum seekers to offshore detention facilities.
This is known as a “return hub.”, located outside the bloc’s borders.
The package was approved with support from right-wing and far-right groups in a 389 to 206 vote in Brussels, with 32 members abstaining.
The legislation now moves a step closer to final approval, pending negotiations with the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.
The vote marks the most significant shift in European migration enforcement policy in more than a decade, and it has drawn immediate and forceful condemnation from human rights organisations across the continent.
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Legislation
The legislation introduces a structural overhaul of how the EU handles migrants with no legal right to remain within its borders.
The law enables EU countries to return irregular migrants to third countries unrelated to their origin, as long as bilateral agreements are in place with a non-EU state to build return hub facilities on its territory.
The law also increases the maximum legal detention period to up to 24 months and imposes practically unlimited entry bans on returned individuals.
The Parliament’s text set the detention ceiling at 24 months lower than the 30-month limit proposed by EU member states and removed a provision that would have allowed authorities to search residences and other locations where expelled migrants could be found.
Under the existing framework, irregular migrants were generally permitted to remain on EU territory until deportation was executed.
Under the new law, people would be forcibly moved to facilities in non-EU countries while awaiting their final deportation.
Africa in the Frame
The geographical implications of the return hub model are already taking shape, and Africa is directly in the frame.
Migrants off the coast of France in March 2026. © Sameer al-Doumy, AFP
Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Denmark have already entered negotiations with governments, mainly in Africa, to host sites to hold migrants denied asylum.
No specific agreements have been formally concluded, and the locations of prospective return hub facilities remain undisclosed.
However, the direction of negotiations confirms that African governments are being approached as potential partners in Europe’s offshore detention strategy.
