Copenhagen expects the proposed scheme to begin accepting transfers by the end of next year. Denmark is working with Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Greece on a framework for the EU’s first such agreement with a third country.
Five countries coordinate next steps
Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration Morten Bødskov was due to meet his counterparts from the four countries in Copenhagen on Friday.
The five countries, known as the “Group of Five”, are expected to agree on concrete steps towards establishing a return centre outside the European Union.
“We have come a long way in our efforts to establish a return centre outside the EU, and we are now closer than ever,” Bødskov said in a statement.
“This means that, from Denmark’s side, we expect to be ready to send the first foreign nationals to a partner country by the end of next year,” he added.
He did not specify which country, or countries, could partner with the five EU member states.
Human rights concerns
The European Parliament approved a revision of the EU’s migration policy in June, aimed at accelerating deportations and allowing member states to establish detention centres abroad.
Critics argue that the policy could weaken safeguards for asylum seekers.
In July, the Council of Europe warned that return centres and other arrangements for transferring foreign nationals to third countries carry “significant human rights risks”, including ill-treatment and arbitrary detention.
Source: CNA
