The European Parliament has approved the creation of so-called "return hubs" — third-country facilities designed to hold migrants whose asylum claims have been rejected while the EU arranges their removal.

The vote marks a significant shift in the European Union's migration and asylum policy. It moves the bloc toward outsourcing part of its deportation infrastructure to partner countries outside its own territory.

What did the Parliament approve?

Return hubs are centres located outside the EU where rejected asylum seekers would be transferred after receiving a return decision in a member state. Instead of keeping people in EU detention facilities pending removal, member governments could send them to a hub in a partner third country until their actual deportation takes place.

The concept builds on the EU's existing framework for returns, under which a member state that cannot execute a deportation directly — often because the person's country of origin refuses to cooperate — must re-examine the situation at set intervals. Return hubs are intended to shorten that limbo by giving governments an additional placement option.

Who is affected?

The measure targets a specific category: people who have already exhausted their asylum procedures and received a final negative decision. Successful asylum applicants and applicants with pending cases are not the intended population for transfer to the hubs.

The policy therefore affects:

• Rejected asylum seekers who cannot be returned directly to their country of origin;
• Member state authorities responsible for executing return decisions;
• Third countries that agree to host the facilities in exchange for partnership arrangements with the EU.

Why does the vote matter?

Parliament's approval clears a major political hurdle for a proposal that has divided EU institutions and member states for years. Supporters argue the hubs will make returns more efficient and reduce the number of people remaining in the EU without a legal basis after a failed asylum claim.

Critics, including human rights organisations, have warned that transferring people to facilities outside the EU risks weakening legal protections and shifting responsibility for deportees to countries with weaker oversight. Concerns have also focused on whether partner states will respect the principle of non-refoulement — the prohibition on sending people to places where they face persecution or harm.

The Parliament's decision signals that a majority of MEPs accepted the Commission's argument that the hubs can operate within the framework of EU fundamental rights obligations, with safeguards written into the arrangements with host countries.

What happens next?

Approval by the European Parliament does not by itself open a single return hub. The next steps involve negotiations and implementation work between the EU institutions, the member states and candidate host countries.

• The EU must conclude agreements with specific third countries willing to host hubs on their territory;
• Operational details — funding, monitoring and legal safeguards — still have to be settled;
• Member states will decide case by case when to transfer a rejected applicant to a hub rather than manage the return at home.

No opening date for any facility has been set, and the actual rollout will depend on which partner governments agree to host the centres and under what conditions.

Where to follow the changes

Readers tracking this file should monitor announcements from the European Parliament and the European Commission, which publish the texts of adopted legislation, plenary vote results and the texts of any subsequent agreements with third countries. The official EU legislative portals remain the authoritative record for the scope of the approved measure and the safeguards attached to it.

Passport File will continue to report on the implementation of the return hubs framework, including host-country agreements and any numerical targets or caps that emerge during the negotiation phase.