Ahead of the 4 September meeting between Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands to discuss progress on plans to deport people to so-called “return hubs” in countries outside Europe where they may never have set foot, likely be to centres or facilities funded by EU member states, Eve Geddie, Director of the European Institutions Office of Amnesty International, said:
“By their very design, and wherever they may be located, ‘return hubs’ carry a risk of grave human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, and forced onward returns to countries of origin. There is a real danger that these locations will, in practice, become cruel black holes for human rights to outsource or offshore detention and deportation. Any responsible government should reject these plans outright.
“We are particularly alarmed that discussions are reportedly zeroing in on two countries with appalling human rights records:
Uganda
and
Rwanda
– despite ongoing conflict and political instability in the Great Lakes Region.
“These negotiations, and the EU’s broader so-called ‘migration diplomacy’ approach, are based on deep power asymmetries reflecting an unabashed attempt by the EU to shirk its migration responsibilities and shift them on to countries in the Global South that are already doing far more than Europe to receive refugees and with fewer resources.
“From the Italy-Albania deal and governments’ past attempts to outsource or offshore their migration policies, we already know that ‘return hubs’ will disproportionately harm racialized people. Following the shameful chants to ‘send them back’ heard in the European Parliament in June, governments across the political spectrum are now dancing to this same xenophobic and racist tune – willing to pursue an agenda to increase deportations at seemingly any cost. Amnesty International will continue to expose the harms and illegalities of these policies – and to resist them.”
Background
… [more]
