Macron and Sánchez slam EU migrant 'return hubs' as un-European. Italy and Denmark say they're necessary.
At the EU summit, French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez forcefully rejected the growing EU push to build 'return hubs' — offshore centres to hold and deport rejected asylum seekers — saying the plan contradicts Europe's founding values. 'I don't know if these are the fundamental principles on which our Europe was built,' Macron said. But Italy, Denmark and other member states have championed the offshore hub model as the only realistic way to deter irregular migration after other approaches failed. The debate follows the European Parliament's vote this week, where 418 MEPs approved an expanded deportation framework.
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Emmanuel Macron strongly criticised the EU migrant return hub project at the summit, questioning whether offshore detention centres for rejected asylum seekers are compatible with Europe's foundational values. 'I don't know if these are the fundamental principles on which our Europe was built,' he said. Spanish PM Sánchez joined him in rejecting the plan, which has been described by critics as potentially creating 'human rights black holes' beyond EU accountability — a system that would outsource the detention and deportation of migrants to third countries with far weaker rights protections.
Italy, Denmark and a growing bloc of EU member states have pushed hard for return hubs as the most effective deterrent to irregular migration after years of failed internal EU solutions. Supporters argue that if Europe cannot remove rejected asylum seekers efficiently, it loses both control of its borders and public confidence in its migration system — fuelling the far-right at home. Following the European Parliament's approval of expanded deportation measures this week by 418 votes to 218, the political momentum within the EU clearly favours stronger enforcement over the humanitarian concerns raised by Macron and Sánchez.
