Star Metro - EU talks deportations as five nations seek migrant centre in Africa

Home affairs ministers from the European Union's 27 nations meet in Luxembourg with anti-immigration sentiment riding high across the bloc, as evidenced by shock far-right gains in Germany this month.

Ministers are scheduled to discuss how to improve returns of people with no right to stay in the bloc through "enhanced cooperation" with "priority" third countries, according to the meeting agenda.

They are also set to give a final green light to tougher new EU rules that grant authorities much broader detention powers and allow for the creation of so-called return hubs -- something one group of countries is raring to do.

Denmark, Austria, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands have been exploring options to set such centres up, with Rwanda said to be the frontrunner to host them.

Two European lawmakers from the Greens group who went on an exploratory mission to the African country and neighbouring Uganda, said Wednesday their visit suggested the two nations were open for business.

Officials in Kigali said negotiations with the five EU countries were ongoing, lawmakers Anna Strolenberg and Tineke Strik -- who oppose return hubs over human rights and other concerns -- told a virtual press conference.

"Most likely the first country that a deal will be struck with is Rwanda," Strolenberg, a Dutch parliamentarian, said.

The five EU countries involved have so far declined to say which nations they have been in talks with.

- Potential deterrent -

This week Greece migration minister Thanos Plevris said Athens was aiming to open a centre in 2027 in an African country "that we have already agreed on" but could not yet be named.

Proponents say return hubs -- which would serve either as the final destination or as transfer centres for those expelled -- could facilitate repatriations and act as a deterrent for would-be irregular migrants.

But critics question their effectiveness, pointing to the hurdles faced by similar projects, and compare them to "legal black holes" that could see migrants stranded in limbo with little oversight.

The talks in Luxembourg will be EU ministers' first in-person meeting since this summer's migrant rush to Spain's exclave of Ceuta tested European borders security and triggered a diplomatic spat between Spain and migrant hard-liner Italy.

Madrid is expected to provide an update on the situation in its northern African territory, with discussions also to focus on proposals to prevent and manage similar crises in the future.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said this month the European Commission will propose an emergency tool for countries to better deal with mass migration movements, although details are yet to be defined.

Work is similarly under way to improve Europe's early warning system with plans under discussion including reinforcing the mandate of the bloc's border agency Frontex to conduct social media monitoring.

M.Anderson--SMC