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Premier Schoof not impressed by headwind Uganda plan

by AI | 18.Oct 2024 | Europe in brief AI

BRUSSELS (ANP) – Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof reacts laconically to reports that Uganda has no interest at all in hosting asylum seekers for the European Union. “Well, we’ll see about that. I heard the idea yesterday.” The idea is now being further developed by the Netherlands, “undoubtedly together with Uganda. Because if you can’t do it together, it certainly won’t work,” he said after the EU summit with government leaders.

The Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof (Photo: Ramon Van Flymen/ANP/dpa)

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It is unclear whether the Netherlands has asked Uganda if the country is considering serving as such a return hub, where rejected asylum seekers must wait for deportation to their country of origin. Minister Reinette Klever for Foreign Trade and Development Assistance has held talks in the East African country “and based on that, the idea has been brought forward,” is the only thing Schoof was willing to say about it.

“That idea is now being further developed, but of course you need at least two countries to work this out. It fits within the line of innovative solutions, of return hubs,” said Schoof.

The ‘return hubs’ were a much-discussed topic at Thursday’s EU summit of government leaders. They are reception centers outside the EU where rejected asylum seekers would have to wait for their return to their country of origin. The question is whether EU rules already allow this.

“It is not simple,” warns Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission member states with ideas for this. For instance, it is still completely unclear how long those who have exhausted their legal options would be allowed to remain there and what should happen to them if return proves impossible.

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