EU weighs creating migrant 'return hubs' to speed up deportations

A reception centre in Shengjin, Albania, for migrants arriving from Italy. Albania and Italy signed a deal where Albania will offer two facilities, a quarantine area at the port of Shengjin and an accommodation centre for those who will be deported at a former military airport in Gjader. © REUTERS - Florion Goga

EU ministers met this week to discuss "innovative" ways to deport more undocumented migrants and rejected asylum seekers, including controversial plans to set up dedicated return centres outside the bloc.

Meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday, home affairs ministers from the European Union's 27 member states were asked whether the bloc should explore "the legal and practical feasibility of innovative solutions in the field of returns, notably the return hub concept".