EU Politicians Eye Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan As Possible Sites For Migrant Return Centers

EU countries are considering creating extraterritorial camps for deported migrants, with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan among the possible locations, Orda.kz reports, citing Politico.

Ministers from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, and Greece discussed the idea of establishing so-called “return centers” — camps outside the European Union where people whose asylum applications have been rejected could be sent.

Answering a question about refugee support centers at a briefing in Astana, Yerlan Zhetybayev, chairman of the International Information Committee at Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Kazakh diplomats had not held such negotiations.

As far as I know, there are no such negotiations regarding refugee support centers. We are holding talks with the EU on simplifying visa requirements for our citizens. If a citizen has left their country illegally, we undertake to ensure that they return to their country,Zhetybayev said.

In February, Kazakhstan’s parliament ratified an agreement with Austria on the readmission and transit of illegal migrants. A similar agreement with France came into force a month earlier. These treaties regulate return and transit procedures, but do not concern the establishment of camps outside the EU.

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