The project of establishing "return hubs" for rejected asylum seekers faces a myriad of challenges, including potential conflicts with international law.
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00:00The idea of outsourcing the detention of migrants outside the European Union is gaining ground
00:12in the political debate.
00:13The principle of these return centres, supported by around 10 member states, was raised last
00:18week at the European Summit.
00:21The President of the European Commission presented the project as one of the innovative ways
00:25of dealing with migration issues.
00:28Arsala von der Leyen admits, however, that she does not have all the answers.
00:33The discussion around the return hubs is concerning another group, those who have no right to
00:42stay in the European Union.
00:46In this context, the return hubs have been discussed, there are open questions, for how
00:52long can people be there, what are you doing, for example, if a return is not possible.
00:57So as I said, it's not trivial, but this is a topic that is being discussed.
01:04The proposal is causing controversy amongst the member states, with Spain making no secret
01:10of its opposition.
01:13Some analysts believe that if the political will is there to create these centres, the
01:18legal implementation will pose a number of problems.
01:22It's empty because what it will end up being is detention centres.
01:27Because of legal, practical and technical barriers, people cannot be sent, for the good
01:31reasons, back to countries of origin of transit, as it would entail profound human rights violations,
01:40and also contrary to constitutional guarantees, that everybody must have access to justice
01:46and to have their case individually assessed.
01:49Human rights NGOs are sounding the alarm.
01:52They believe that the consequences will be painful for asylum seekers.
01:56Every time we've seen this kind of scheme in practice, we've seen prolonged arbitrary
02:00detention, we've seen people separated from their families, we've seen people in an unbearable
02:05legal limbo, children and other groups in vulnerable situations falling between the
02:08cracks, we've seen people at risk of being sent back to danger and to persecution, and
02:13we've seen people being denied the right to asylum with all of the legal safeguards that
02:17is required at the EU.
02:20The President of the Commission says she wants to learn the lessons from the agreement signed
02:24in 2023 between Italy and Albania.
02:28The agreement provides for adult men intercepted by the Italian Coast Guard to be sent to the
02:32Balkan country.
02:34But as soon as it was implemented last week, the protocol was already in trouble.
02:39The Italian courts decided at the weekend to invalidate the transfer of the first 12
02:44migrants.
02:47For more UN videos visit www.un.org