Plevris to POLITICO: ‘Rejected asylum seekers should leave the EU’ – Return hubs from early 2027

Greece is pushing for faster returns of people who are no longer entitled to international protection, placing itself at the forefront of a new European migration strategy. Athens, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna and The Hague are working on return hubs in third countries, with a first pilot project targeted for early 2027.

Europe’s migration debate is moving beyond border protection and asylum procedures to a politically and operationally tougher question:

What happens after an asylum application has been definitively rejected?

Greece wants to be at the forefront of that shift.

Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris, speaking to POLITICO, has called for people who have been denied the right to remain in the European Union to be removed swiftly.

At the center of the emerging strategy are so-called return hubs — facilities in third countries outside the EU where people subject to return decisions could be transferred.

First pilot return hub targeted for early 2027

According to Plevris’ comments to POLITICO, a pilot project to send migrants who have been denied the right to stay in the EU to designated third countries is expected to be in place by early next year.

This is no longer simply a Greek proposal.

Greece is part of a five-country Core Group together with:

• Denmark
• Austria
• Germany
• the Netherlands

The five countries met in Copenhagen in early September and agreed on a roadmap for establishing return hubs in safe third countries.

Talks with third countries have already started

And there is a crucial development.

The Greek Migration Ministry has confirmed that technical meetings and consultations with potential third countries have already begun.

No country has yet been officially announced as the location of the first hub.

Athens has said that discussions are focusing particularly on countries on the African continent, but no final agreement with a specific government has been made public.

What exactly are return hubs?

Return hubs are not designed for asylum seekers whose applications are still being assessed.

The European framework concerns third-country nationals who no longer have a legal right to remain in the European Union and are subject to a return decision.

A facility in a third country could function as part of the process for returning such individuals outside the EU.

This marks a significant change in the architecture of European migration policy.

For years, much of the debate centered on who enters Europe, where asylum claims should be processed and which member state bears responsibility.

The new focus is increasingly on what happens after a final rejection.

The EU has opened the legal door

The initiative is not being developed in a legal vacuum.

In June 2026, the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on a new EU Returns Regulation.

The framework explicitly allows member states to conclude arrangements or agreements with third countries for the establishment of return hubs.

But there are conditions.

The third country must respect international human rights standards and international law, including the principle of non-refoulement.

Unaccompanied minors are excluded from such arrangements.

Why Europe is changing course

Behind the shift lies one of the EU migration system’s persistent problems:

A return decision does not necessarily result in an actual departure.

According to the European Commission, the effective return rate in the EU increased to around 28 percent in 2025, but still remained low compared with the overall number of return decisions.

The new framework is designed to narrow that gap.

A European Return Order

The new regulation also introduces another instrument:

the European Return Order.

It is intended to make return decisions easier to recognize and enforce across the European Union.

The aim is to address a recurring problem in which a person subject to a return decision in one member state moves to another EU country, creating further administrative and enforcement difficulties.

Tougher rules for non-cooperation

The new framework also strengthens obligations for people subject to return procedures.

Forced return can apply in circumstances including non-cooperation with authorities, absconding to another member state, failure to leave within a voluntary-departure period, or security concerns.

At the same time, the system retains mechanisms for voluntary return and reintegration.

Greece is the only southern EU country in the Core Group

For Athens, there is another politically important dimension.

Greece is the only southern European country participating in the five-country Core Group.

Plevris has argued that return hubs could help prevent frontline states from becoming permanent destinations for people whose applications for international protection have been definitively rejected.

Following the Copenhagen meeting, he said:

“We cannot allow Greece to become a permanent point of entrapment for those who are not entitled to international protection.”

Plevris: Return hubs are only part of the strategy

The Greek approach goes beyond offshore return facilities.

At the Munich conference only days ago, Plevris again called for:

• a stronger Frontex role in returns,
• closer cooperation between member states,
• greater pressure on countries of origin to readmit their nationals,
• and the strategic use of EU visa policy as leverage in negotiations with third countries.

Return hubs are therefore only one component of a broader effort to make the EU return system more enforceable.

From asylum to returns

The timing is significant.

The EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into application on June 12, 2026.

The political debate is now increasingly shifting toward the next stage:

what Europe does when an asylum claim ends in a final rejection.

For governments supporting return hubs, the argument is that a functioning asylum system also requires final negative decisions to have practical consequences.

But implementation will depend heavily on agreements with governments outside the EU.

The third country is the real test

This is where the plan becomes considerably more complicated.

For a return hub to become operational, the EU countries involved need a third country willing to:

• host the facility,
• enter into the necessary agreement,
• comply with human rights requirements,
• and guarantee respect for the principle of non-refoulement.

Without such an agreement, the existence of an EU legal framework alone cannot create a return hub.

Europe’s migration debate is entering a new phase

For years, the European migration debate revolved primarily around:

reception, asylum processing and burden-sharing between member states.

The next phase increasingly revolves around:

borders, returns, readmission agreements and cooperation with third countries.

Greece is seeking a central role in that shift.

The key question is therefore no longer simply whether Europe will permit return hubs.

The new EU framework provides for them.

The real questions are where the first hub will be located, which third country will sign an agreement and whether the five-country pilot can actually become operational in early 2027, as Plevris told POLITICO.

Source: pagenews.gr