FT: EU moves toward funding deportation centres outside bloc

EU countries are preparing to allow funding for controversial deportation centres outside the bloc using EU financial resources, in what would mark a significant shift toward outsourcing migration control.

The plan forms part of discussions on the European Union’s next long-term budget covering 2028 to 2034. Under the proposal, so-called “innovative solutions” for managing migration could be financed through the EU’s foreign aid and external spending instruments, Financial Times reports. 

The position paper is expected to be adopted by EU affairs ministers on June 16.

The term “innovative solutions” is widely understood in Brussels to include controversial initiatives such as “return hubs” — facilities in non-EU countries where rejected asylum seekers who cannot be deported to their countries of origin would be sent.

Critics warn that such arrangements could weaken legal protections and human rights safeguards for migrants, as responsibility for asylum management would be shifted outside EU territory.

According to people familiar with the discussions, the “external dimension” of migration policy — including potential return hubs — could receive up to €20bn over seven years, representing roughly 10% of the bloc’s external action budget, although the figures remain subject to change during ongoing negotiations.

“It creates an opening to provide EU funding . . . if and when return hubs come into being,” said one EU diplomat.

The inclusion of such measures in EU budget planning represents a notable policy shift, as the European Commission had previously resisted financing physical infrastructure aimed at preventing irregular migration.

By Sabina Mammadli