Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has invited a large number of European interior ministers to the “Munich Migration Meeting”. It was about a tougher asylum policy and the planning of further tightening, such as the expansion of deportation centers. The EU border protection agency Frontex should also be given more powers.

Shortly before the meeting of the EU Council of Interior Ministers in Brussels this week, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) organized the “Munich Migration Meeting". Last Saturday, 17 European interior ministers and the Austrian EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunnes met in Munich. There they wanted to discuss the future EU asylum policy. With the meeting, Dobrindt wanted to "provide the necessary impetus in Munich when it comes to tightening migration policy".

The first meeting of interior ministersof this kind took place almost a year ago. The interior ministers, Dobrindt in particular, set the goal of making deportations possible to third countries as well. Rejected asylum seekers should be deported to countries that are not their home states. This meeting also resulted in the deletion of the so-called connecting element in the European Parliament. This means that deportation to third countries was decided at EU level in February 2026.

EU asylum reforms: deportations to “return hubs” and further tightening

Expansion of the “Return Hubs”

Another point that has been discussed since the first meeting is the expansion of the so-called “return hubs”. This involves deportation centers outside the EU. People who are classified by the EU as having to leave the country but cannot yet be returned to their countries of origin should be deported to these “hubs”. These are then located in third countries to which the refugees usually have no personal connection.

Those who are required to leave the country include people whose asylum procedure has been rejected or who are staying “irregularly” in the EU. This includes unauthorized entry or staying in an EU country without valid documents.

The “Five Alliance” from Germany, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Greece has been promoting the return hubs for months. They have publicly announced that they are in talks with states in East Africa. They want to find a partner by the end of the year. Rwanda is considered a “hot candidate”. FirstnegotiationsThe construction of the deportation centers is probably already underway and a delegation of European governments will travel to Rwanda this week.

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Deal with Rwanda collapsed in UK

Dobrindtemphasized"I believe that we, our group of five, will succeed in concluding such agreements with third countries. It is not one country, it is a group and we have learned from the past." That's probably itdealbetween Great Britain and Rwanda from 2022.

At that time, the British government wanted to accommodate several hundred asylum seekers in Rwanda so that they could go through the asylum procedure there. However, the High Court in London stopped the plan a year later. The judges feared that the asylum seekers would not receive sufficient protection and might be deported to other countries. The procedure cost the equivalent of 800 million euros.

Sharp criticism of return hubs

A similar oneagreementcurrently exists between Italy and Albania. With Italian support, a camp was set up in the Albanian town of Gjadër where people from Italy have been expelled since the beginning of the year and are awaiting the outcome of their asylum procedure. The agreement between Italy and Albania was decided bilaterally and not at EU level. However, it is considered a pilot project for EU-wide camps in third countries.

SharpcriticismThe human rights organization Amnesty International is involved in this practice. The camps are described as a “step back from hard-won legal and humanitarian standards”. The development aid organization Bread for the WorlddesignatedReturn Hubs as a “further step towards establishing brutal, until recently unimaginable measures as the new normality of migration policy.”

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Massive upgrade of Frontex

The EU border protection agency Front was another topic at the Munich summit. After the images of the mass rush to Ceuta in Spain, it is now clear that Europe needs a new migration crisis mechanism, said Dobrindt. To this end, Frontex should be further expanded and given more competencies. In concrete terms, this means being converted from a border protection agency into a “repatriation agency”. This means that they should also be used for the return and deportation of migrants directly from border procedures as well as returns from transit states that are not EU members.

In hersKeynote speechIn September, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed this conversion. She said: "But we make no concessions when it comes to protecting our borders. We decide in Europe who comes into our Union and under what circumstances." This would require further strengthening of Frontex.

The post“Migration summit” in Munich: Dobrindt plans return hubs and further upgrades of Frontexappeared firstperspective.