Five EU countries to announce deal on Rwanda deportation hub on Monday

Five European Union member states — Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands — are expected to announce on Monday in Vienna a deal on a deportation hub in Rwanda, to which they could send migrants with no legal right to stay in the EU. Three people familiar with the scheme confirmed the plan to Politico Europe. The agreement is part of a wider EU effort to tighten control over who enters the bloc and who is allowed to stay.

Who would be covered

The arrangement would apply only to asylum seekers who have exhausted all options for securing legal residence in the EU and whose claims were rejected. The Rwanda hub would serve as a pilot project, and further deals with other countries, possibly involving other EU members, are likely to follow.

Legal basis

The countries had earlier confirmed that they aimed to close the first deals on off-shore centres this year, with the facilities operational from next year. A recent reform of EU rules allows member states to strike such deals with non-EU countries, provided international human rights standards are met.

The details, including the nationalities of those who would be transferred, living conditions at the hubs and oversight, will depend on the final agreement. Human rights groups have warned that the hubs risk opening the door to abuses far from EU oversight or legal recourse.

How it differs from the UK plan

The UK Supreme Court ruled the Conservative government's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda unlawful in 2023. After Labour took power in 2024, it shelved the scheme, with then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling it "dead and buried." The UK had intended to send people to Rwanda to have their applications processed remotely, whereas the EU countries' deal would target people who have already been ordered to leave the bloc.