The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has criticized the “Return Hubs” that Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the Christian‑Social Union (CSU) is pushing for outside the European Union. SPD deputy chair Sonja Eichwede warned that such facilities expose Germany and the EU to legal and political risks. She said the country must guard against a migration policy that increasingly relies on deterrence and isolation at the expense of human rights, adding that few non‑European countries can truly guarantee those standards.
Eichwede also warned that the costs of this model could outweigh any benefits. “We must never allow huge sums to be paid to authoritarian regimes solely to push a small group of people back into their home countries” she said. “In the end, it wouldn’t solve the problem but would spark a divisive debate”. She urged the EU to take responsibility and to negotiate take‑back agreements directly with origin countries, insisting that the burden cannot be placed on regimes that do not meet democratic standards.
In contrast, CDU politician Detlef Seif, tasked by his party with implementing the European asylum and migration turnaround, promoted the establishment of Return Hubs. “Our coalition agreement calls for a return offensive and a greater holding of origin countries” he told “Welt”. “For that we need the possibility to transfer people who are legally obliged to leave into Return Hubs in both origin and transit countries”. Seif added that all obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Convention on Refugees would be complied with. He pointed out that about 80 % of return attempts currently fail, and that Return Hubs could provide a genuine breakthrough.
