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The Netherlands is taking concrete steps toward establishing centers outside the European Union to hold migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected, with initial measures expected within months, according to a report Monday by Politico citing Dutch migration minister Bart van den Brink.
"Across Europe, people are asking for credible and workable solutions to regain control over migration," van den Brink, who also serves as deputy prime minister, was quoted as saying. He described such solutions as "taking shape" and legally viable.
The plan would transfer rejected asylum seekers to facilities in non-EU countries as a way to reduce irregular migration and streamline deportation procedures. A legal review commissioned by The Hague found no legal obstacles to the proposal, according to a Dutch government letter to parliament cited by Politico.
The Netherlands is pursuing the initiative in coordination with several European partners. Greece, Germany, Austria, and Denmark, all of which have pushed for tighter EU-wide migration controls, are among the governments in discussions. The location of a first hub has not been announced, with negotiations with potential host countries described as ongoing.
The Dutch push comes as the European Parliament approved a broader return regulation in late March, backed by 389 votes to 206, that would create a legal framework enabling member states, individually or jointly, to establish such facilities outside EU territory.
The legislation is now in negotiations between the Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council, with final agreement pushed to June.
Under the proposed system, migrants with a final rejection of their asylum claim would be transferred to centers in third countries and held there until deportation to their country of origin is carried out, either by the member state concerned or by the EU's border agency, Frontex.
The model draws on precedent set by Italy, which in 2024 established processing centers in Albania, though that arrangement has faced repeated legal challenges.
The EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights has warned that such hubs cannot function as rights-free zones, and has outlined conditions, including legally binding agreements with host countries and independent human rights monitoring, that it says must be met to comply with EU law.
Rights groups have described the facilities as potential "legal black holes" that could leave migrants in prolonged legal limbo with little oversight.
The Dutch initiative reflects a broader rightward shift in European migration politics. Irregular arrivals fell in 2025, but pressure to improve the bloc's poor deportation record has intensified.
Currently, only around one in five people ordered to leave the EU are actually returned to their country of origin, a figure that has driven demand for more coercive enforcement tools.
Far-right parties across Europe have pointed to the hardline deportation policies of U.S. President Donald Trump as a model, and mainstream governments have increasingly adopted stricter rhetoric and policy in response to electoral pressure. The EU's wider Migration Pact, which reshapes asylum procedures and border controls across the bloc, is set to take full effect in June 2026.
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