Greece, Austria, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands are advancing a joint proposal to create “return hubs” outside the European Union for asylum seekers whose applications have been definitively rejected.

The mechanism would temporarily house rejected applicants, including Bangladeshis, in a third country while repatriation arrangements are finalised. Preliminary discussions are underway with potential hosts including Uzbekistan and several African nations, though no formal agreements have been signed.

Greece has taken a leading role in the push, with its migration and asylum ministry telling international media that the five governments could reach a deal with a third country this year, enabling operations to begin in 2027.

The initiative leverages a window opened by the European Commission’s proposed Return Regulation, which permits member states to establish offsite return facilities under specified conditions. Under the arrangement, rejected applicants who cannot be immediately returned to their countries of origin would be transferred to the external hubs while the five governments coordinate repatriation with home authorities.

According to EU diplomatic sources and international media, the group is evaluating the capacity, interest and willingness to cooperate of Uzbekistan alongside six African nations: Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, Benin and Mauritania. Neither the European Commission nor any prospective host state has announced a final deal.

Dhaka has received no formal notification regarding the plan, according to Bangladeshi foreign ministry officials at home and abroad. The proposal remains in the policy stage, subject to debate in the European Parliament and division among member states, leaving formal discussions with Bangladesh or other origin countries on hold.

Officials stress that the measure does not target Bangladesh specifically, applying instead to any rejected asylum seeker subject to a final removal order who cannot be sent home immediately. The core objective is to house individuals outside the EU bloc until their home governments complete repatriation procedures.

A senior foreign ministry official told Bonik Barta on condition of anonymity that the initiative holds significant implications for Bangladesh due to the large volume of Bangladeshi applicants in Europe alongside an exceptionally low acceptance rate, currently standing at 3 to 4 percent at first instance.

“The question of sending people to a return hub in a third country isn’t final yet,” the official said. “The relevant regulation is still under approval, but the policy shift towards faster repatriation is moving towards implementation. That means new applications from Bangladeshis seeking asylum will be settled more quickly than before.”

The official added that under the proposed Return Regulation, authorities aim to process new applications within approximately 12 weeks, with cases deemed inadmissible triggering prompt repatriation proceedings.

The five-nation push rests on a stark structural deficit: fewer than one-third of individuals issued removal orders across the EU are ultimately returned to their home countries. The resulting accumulation of rejected applicants inside the bloc has placed sustained pressure on national asylum systems, leading governments to argue that external return hubs are essential to enforce compliance.

The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from human rights bodies. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has written to the five governments demanding strict adherence to international refugee law, the European Convention on Human Rights and the principle of non-refoulement. Rights groups separately warned that an external return hub risks undermining legal protections, judicial remedies and access to international protection.

Bangladesh’s exposure to the policy is highlighted by the EU Agency for Asylum’s latest trends report, which ranked the country as the fourth-largest source of EU asylum seekers in 2025, behind Syria, Venezuela and Afghanistan.

Bangladeshi nationals lodged 36,901 applications across Europe in 2025, including 35,245 first-time filings. While member states issued 43,523 first-instance decisions, 41,692 cases remained pending at the end of the year, with a further 1,170 withdrawn. The first-instance recognition rate was merely 3 percent.

The EU Agency for Asylum report noted that many applicants cited political, security and human rights concerns following the political transition in Dhaka in August 2024. Although total filings fell nearly 15 percent year-on-year, Bangladesh remained among the largest origin countries, with the EU border and coast guard agency Frontex recording significant numbers of Bangladeshi nationals among irregular arrivals along the Central Mediterranean route.

Md Nurul Haque, state minister for expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, confirmed that Dhaka has not been formally approached. “We haven’t received any formal decision or communication,” he said.

The state minister asserted that current conditions in Bangladesh no longer justify claims for political asylum. “After a long gap, a democratic government has been elected,” he said. “Citizens’ constitutional rights and dignity are assured. I see no logic in going abroad to claim political asylum.”

Haque added that the government has consistently discouraged irregular migration. “We want all to travel abroad through legal and regular channels. Many, however, enter Europe through irregular routes and then apply for political asylum. We’ve discouraged that practice from the outset,” the state minister said.

The practice of using asylum mechanisms as a pathway for economic migration carries broader diplomatic costs. Pervasive claims of persecution risk cementing an international perception that Bangladesh remains unsafe, undermining the country’s national image and public standing abroad.

Senior officials said Dhaka must closely monitor both the European Commission’s draft Return Regulation and the return hub initiative, noting that either development could alter the processing of Bangladeshi asylum claims, accelerate deportations and reshape broader bilateral migration frameworks.

Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chair of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit, condemned the ‘return hub’ proposal. “I regard this kind of initiative as anti-humanitarian,” she said. “Transferring asylum seekers to a third country to facilitate repatriation risks breaching international human rights principles.”

Citing earlier offshore models, Siddiqui warned of systemic legal and humanitarian failures. She told Bonik Barta: “Australia’s offshore processing experience shows that such policies leave asylum seekers in prolonged uncertainty. In many cases, access to effective legal aid, mental health care and judicial remedy becomes severely limited. If Europe wants to introduce a similar system, human rights safeguards must be given the highest priority.”