VIENNA — Austria and Denmark aim to seal a deal by year’s end to establish offshore deportation centers, part of a broader European push to process asylum claims and return migrants outside EU borders.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) and Danish Migration Minister Morten Bødskov announced the timeline Monday after talks in Vienna. Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and Greece form a five-nation “implementers group” working on the controversial plan, reported by oe24.
Karner called the prospects for closing an agreement with a partner country by end-2026 “good,” saying Vienna is in contact with “very, very many partner nations.” International media have previously named Uganda or Rwanda as potential partners. Britain’s non-EU asylum deal with Rwanda was scrapped in 2024 after Labour’s election victory and later struck down by the Supreme Court.
A ministerial meeting of the five “implementers” is scheduled for September 4 in Copenhagen. Bødskov stressed the need for a “transformation” of European migration and asylum policy, with both ministers highlighting the recently enacted EU asylum and migration pact. When asked by journalists, the Danish minister emphasized that protecting human rights in return centers would be essential.
Karner initially declined to discuss expected costs on Ö1’s “Morgenjournal” Monday morning, instead arguing it would be “cheaper in the long run” if Austria regained control. He assured that international organizations like the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR would be involved in implementation.
However, Christoph Pinter from UNHCR Austria told Ö1’s “Mittagsjournal” that while talks had occurred, they did not cover “this concrete concept.” He distinguished between return hubs and offshore asylum processing, calling the latter “fundamentally unacceptable” as it amounts to “shifting responsibility for refugee protection.”
People should only be sent to return hubs after completing fair asylum procedures in Europe with no protection needs found, Pinter said. Even then, voluntary return or deportation to home countries should be prioritized. He raised concerns about how long and under what conditions people would stay, calling extended detention in prison-like conditions unacceptable. Centers would be fundamentally unsuitable for children and families, he added.
FPÖ security spokesperson Gernot Darmann dismissed the project as “pure theater for the gallery,” arguing that without an “absolute asylum stop,” mass migration to Europe and Austria would continue unchanged.
