The authorities of Denmark announced this Friday their intention for the deportation centers located outside the European Union to be operational, at the latest, by the end of 2027, after a meeting held with Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Greece, countries with similar positions on migration issues.
According to the Danish Minister of the Interior, Morten Bodskov, in a press conference in Copenhagen, this group of countries has agreed on "the principles for a return center model" that should be operational in 2027.
"Our goal is to be prepared to send people before the end of 2027. That is our deadline," emphasized Bodskov, highlighting that the Danish government is pushing for a transformation of the EU asylum system, when just a few years ago such proposals were subject to "mockery" and "were considered unrealistic."
The minister insisted that these centers will not be for the "detention" of migrants. "We are talking about the possibility of giving a second chance to irregular migrants who cannot return to their countries of origin and who do not have the opportunity to remain legally in our countries," he pointed out.
In this line, Bodskov specified that the project will allow these people to have "an opportunity for a new life in a partner country."
For his part, the German Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, described the meeting of this group of countries as "enormously important" and announced that there will be another meeting in Munich, Germany, at the end of this month.
The German official emphasized that the immediate priority is to close agreements with third countries where to locate these facilities. "We want to reach an agreement with third countries before the end of this year, which will allow the establishment of return centers," he indicated, according to statements collected by the DPA agency.
A majority of EU member states has called for accelerating the outsourcing of deportation centers to territories outside the bloc, following the path opened by the agreement between Italy and Albania. In May, the European Union approved a reform that tightens asylum policy and strengthens the creation of this type of detention centers in third countries.
These facilities could be used for migrants who are already on community soil but for whom asylum is not contemplated, while their definitive expulsion to the country of origin or to the transit country from which they accessed the Union is processed.
The proposal has generated strong criticism from countries like Spain and various humanitarian organizations, which question both the effectiveness of this model and its compatibility with the values and fundamental rights that the European Union claims to defend.