Council of Europe warns five EU states of rights risks in return hub plans

BRUSSELS, July 16 - Europe's leading human rights watchdog urged five EU nations on Thursday to fully protect the rights under international law of rejected asylum seekers they aim to deport under a planned new system of "return hubs".

Last month the European Parliament approved an overhaul of migration policy aimed at speeding up deportations and allowing member states to set up detention centres abroad, in what critics describe as a cruel system that weakens safeguards for asylum seekers.

The Council of Europe, a 46-member, non-EU body that promotes human rights, democracy and the rule of law across the continent, said return hubs and other arrangements to transfer foreign nationals to third countries posed "considerable human rights risks", including ill-treatment and arbitrary detention.

In letters sent to Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, the Council's human rights commissioner, Michael O'Flaherty, proposed four "guardrails".

These would include a comprehensive assessment of human rights risks before any action is taken. Plans would be subject to rigorous monitoring and be governed by legally binding agreements with enforceable rights safeguards. They would also be subject to parliamentary, judicial and public scrutiny.

The Netherlands said it was working with Greece, Austria, Germany and Denmark to establish joint return and transit hubs in third countries for failed asylum seekers and other migrants with no legal right to remain in the EU.

The Dutch government has said it wants concrete steps by the end of the year, as it faces what Prime Minister Rob Jetten has called an "asylum crisis".

In a joint letter last month, 19 EU member states urged the bloc to quickly pursue third-country migration measures, including return hubs, and called on the executive European Commission to back such efforts financially.

The push comes amid growing anti-immigration sentiment across the European Union over the past decade that has fuelled popular support for far-right parties. REUTERS