The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has expressed strong criticism of the “Return Hubs” – external asylum‑processing centres being pushed forward by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU. The SPD warns that such a model poses serious legal and political risks. Speaking to “Die Welt”, deputy faction leader Sonja Eichwede noted that Germany’s European refugee policy should not evolve into a strategy that relies increasingly on deterrence and isolation at the expense of human rights. She added that only very few countries beyond Europe could realistically guarantee the standards required by international law.
Eichwede also argued that the costs of the Return Hub system might outweigh any benefits. “We must never end up paying enormous sums to authoritarian regimes to remove a small group of people from a country” she said. “In the end this would neither solve the problems nor calm the debate; it would only inflame it”. She urged the EU to take responsibility by intensively negotiating repatriation agreements with origin countries, refusing to shift the burden onto regimes that do not meet democratic standards.
In contrast, CDU politician Detlef Seif, charged with implementing the European asylum and migration turnaround within his parliamentary group, highlighted the advantages of the Return Hub concept. He told “Die Welt” that the coalition agreement calls for a “return offensive” and a stronger hold‑down on origin countries. To achieve this, Seif argued, the EU needs the ability to transfer deportable individuals to Return Hubs in both origin and transit countries. He stressed that all legal obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Convention will be respected. Currently, roughly eighty per cent of deportations fail; according to Seif, the Return Hubs could provide the breakthrough needed to make the process effective.