EU Parliament backs creation of ‘return hubs’ outside the bloc to speed migrant deportations

In a highly-charged vote in Brussels on 26 March, the European Parliament approved a regulation that will make it far easier for EU member states—including Belgium—to transfer rejected asylum-seekers to detention and processing centres located in third countries. The measure, adopted by 389 votes to 206 with 32 abstentions, creates a legal framework for so-called European Return Orders (EROs) and for ‘return hubs’ that can be set up by one or several member states outside EU territory. Once an ERO is entered into the Schengen Information System, any other Schengen state can enforce the decision immediately, closing an enforcement gap that has frustrated Belgian immigration officials for years. Although the pact is EU-wide, it was negotiated and voted in Brussels and will be implemented by the Belgian Immigration Office, which already handles around 25,000 return cases a year. Belgian employers that rely on non-EU talent should prepare for stricter exit controls: overstaying workers will face faster removal, and companies that fail to deregister departing staff could see compliance audits accelerate. On the policy side, Belgium’s caretaker government must now transpose screening-time limits (12 weeks for appeals) into national law before the pact starts applying in June 2026.



Employers and individual travelers who need to keep their paperwork immaculate can turn to VisaHQ, an online platform that streamlines visa and passport processing for Belgium and more than 200 other destinations. Its specialists can spot potential overstays, arrange exit or transit permits, and guide HR teams through last-minute extensions—services that will become even more valuable once ERO checks tighten. For details, visit https://www.visahq.com/belgium/

The business community is watching the “return hub” concept closely. Right-of-centre parties in Belgium’s federal parliament, led by N-VA and Vlaams Belang, are already urging the next coalition to join early pilot hubs being negotiated by Germany, Austria, Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands. Human-rights NGOs, however, condemn the vote as a “historic setback” that risks externalising responsibility and undermining refugee protections. Practically, nothing will change overnight at Brussels Airport or the Port of Antwerp, but companies moving staff across the Schengen area will soon have to check whether an employee has an outstanding ERO that could trigger a sudden border refusal. Mobility managers should review assignment letters, exit declarations and social-security deregistration workflows to make sure stays end cleanly. Firms with large subcontracting chains—construction, logistics, hospitality—should expect additional due-diligence questions from Belgian labour inspectors once the common return database goes live. Looking ahead, the law’s opponents have vowed to challenge individual transfers before Belgium’s Council of State and the EU Court of Justice. That litigation could delay the first removals from new hubs, but most analysts still expect the system to be operational in 2027. Companies should therefore assume tighter enforcement is coming and budget extra lead-time for family-reunification and long-stay visa files that may face greater scrutiny.