EXCLUSIVE: Migrant deportation offshore hubs now being planned for Africa
EU countries start copying UK’s homework, as bloc’s ‘unity’ disintegrates in open revolt
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2026
We reveal the chronic disharmony now evident in Andy Burnham’s beloved EU
The EU’s approach to immigration is undergoing its most radical transformation in decades, driven by a desperate political push to enforce deportations and control its external borders.
Sound familiar?
For the UK audience, the terminology and debates happening across the EU about immigration will resonate. With little being said in most of the media, GB News summarises what’s going on across the Channel. Does Andy Burnham know that his socialist, open borders EU no longer exists?
In another exclusive for GB News, the Facts4EU think-tank, together with colleagues at Stand for Our Sovereignty and The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK.Org), have probed the latest official EU announcements as well as statements by European national leaders. The conclusion is clear:
The EU is copying the UK’s homework on mass immigration
The imitation and the hypocrisy: The great EU-turn
When the last Conservative government announced its Rwanda partnership, EU officials and continental commentators decried it as a breach of international law and a moral failing.
The reality today: European capitals are now quietly trying to replicate a similar strategy, with third-country ‘hubs’ being proposed for the deportation of migrants whose claims for asylum have failed.
Photo left: Example of Rwandan accommodation organised for migrants from the UK, cancelled by Sir Keir Starmer.
Ironically, Reform UK was criticised by mainstream British and European media for demanding strict offshore detention and zero-tolerance deportations. Yet, the Dutch coalition government, the Austrian Chancellor, and even Germany’s interior ministry are now openly championing similar ideas. What was labelled "extreme" in Westminster is becoming official policy across the EU.
The Commission’s back-tracking
The European Commission’s shift is pure realpolitik. Ursula von der Leyen initially insisted that the ‘New Pact on Migration and Asylum’ was a complete, watertight solution. This promptly caused uproar in many European capitals, particularly in the North of the bloc.
After two years of arguments, and fearing a populist wipeout in elections across France, Germany, and the Netherlands, the Commission had to capitulate.
The Commission has now effectively admitted that traditional, internal EU asylum processing has failed. They have been forced to look outside their own borders to maintain control.
The Rt Hon the Lord Redwood D.Phil FCSI, former Secretary of State,
commented exclusively to GB News and Facts4EU
"Mrs Von der Leyen used fighting language in her state of the Union speech attacking populist parties like the AFD in Germany and National Rally in France. Voters in Germany responded by voting strongly for the AFD in state elections whilst voters in France make National Rally the leading party in opinion polls.
“The biggest reason is widespread anger about the EU policy of allowing in so many migrants and the view that the EU lacks border controls to stop people trafficking. Belatedly Brussels is talking tougher, but the Union still lacks the will-power and the measures to curb migration."
How the Commission defended its climbdown
In her ‘State of the Union’ speech on 28 Sept 2026, Ursula von der Leyen defended the sudden fast-tracking of stricter border response instruments.
Von der Leyen's EU-turn, without admitting it
“Europe's commitment to its values and fundamental rights remains, but there will be no compromise on border protection, as Europeans determine who enters the union and under what conditions, not smugglers and traffickers.”
- EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
This hardening of the institutional line was echoed by the EU Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, during the pact's operational and legal launch:
“On 12 June [2026] we will not be cutting the ribbon. We will be launching the operational system...
We are putting our European house in order. This creates the conditions for us to decide who can come to Europe, who can stay, and who must leave.”
- EU Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, June 2026
BEFORE WE CONTINUE...
To be a full-time, effective voice in opposition to what's happening to our country,
it costs around £15,000 per month.
We receive far, far less than that and really need more readers to help us.
Please donate or become a member today so we can make even more of a difference.
Any credit card user
Quick One-off
From £5 - £1,000
Monthly
From £3 per month
Paypal Users Only - Choose amount first
Quick One-off
Monthly
Don't leave this to someone else. You are that 'someone else'.
The Rise of the 'Copenhagen Five'
Despite these verbal climbdowns from Brussels, national leaders are taking matters into their own hands, bypassing slow EU machinery.
A powerful coalition convened by Denmark - comprising Denmark, Germany, Austria, Greece, and the Netherlands - has formed an alliance known as the "Copenhagen Five". Their explicit goal is to establish operational third-country deportation centres outside European soil by the end of 2027.
Danish Minister for Immigration, Morten Bødskov, stated bluntly:
“We have agreed on concrete steps towards a deal with a non-European Union country on return facilities...
Our expectation is to be ready to send rejected asylum seekers to deportation centres located outside the European Union by the end of 2027.”
- Morten Bødskov, Danish Minister for Immigration
While pro-migrant NGOs warn that these hubs are a "crimmigration" trap that will be shot down by the courts, the Copenhagen Five are moving forward, actively eyeing advanced discussions with Uganda and – predictably - Rwanda.
In June the EU Parliament passed an EU Commission ‘EU Return Regulation’ which permits these hubs, but with so many conditions attached they would be vastly expensive and to all intents and purposes unworkable. This Regulation awaits approval from the EU Council this month.
The open revolt and the “solidarity fines"
Despite strong opposition, the Commission’s ‘Pact’ became law on 12 June 2026. Most controversially it introduces a "mandatory solidarity" rule. If a country refuses to take its quota of migrants from frontline states such as Greece or Italy, it is hit with a severe financial penalty of €20,000 (approx. £17,000 GBP) per rejected migrant.
On the frontline of the open revolt against this are Poland and Hungary, who have explicitly stated they will refuse to pay a single Euro in fines, viewing it as an unconstitutional assault on their sovereignty. The Netherlands has formally requested an official ‘opt-out’ from EU migration rules altogether.
If these countries refuse to pay, the Commission’s only recourse is to dock the money directly from their EU structural funding. This sets up an unprecedented internal fiscal war, threatening to paralyse the bloc's central budget.
Former Secretary of State Lord Redwood commented exclusively to GB News and Facts4EU
“The EU is deeply divided on migration, with countries under democratic pressure over weak borders pressing for a Rwanda-style solution.
“They want offshore processing of asylum claims and somewhere to deport illegals.
“If Brussels continues to block solutions or insist on complex rules that make them impractical the populists will sweep to power in more countries. If Brussels hides behind their human rights laws, favouring the rights of migrants over the concerns of citizens, they will badly misjudge the mood in Europe. More populist governments will take control of their own borders in the absence of EU control.
“They will refuse to pay the fines Brussels is imposing if they do not take enough of the migrants the EU lets in. The UK voted for Brexit in part to take control of our borders. When will the government use the freedoms it has to do so?”
Observations
In the face of decisions by democratically-elected governments in several EU countries, the unelected officials from the Commission have been dragged into a set of concessions over their ‘New Pact on Migration and Asylum’.
The simple fact is that Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues have been unable to keep all member countries happy. This happens to concern an issue which - as in the UK - has become increasingly high-profile with the electorates of these countries. It has therefore attracted more headlines within the EU than many of the other areas in which the Commission has sought to interfere.
Everywhere you look, this Commission has taken a more arrogant approach in its desire to legislate over the lives of ordinary Europeans. It remains the case that at the heart of the EU there is the profoundly undemocratic system whereby the Commission is the only EU body able to put forward new laws governing member states at a European level. The MEPs of the EU Parliament can only vote for or against these measures but have no right to legislate for themselves.
This democratic deficit is stark but it takes issues such as immigration to bring this to the fore. The fact for Andy Burnham is that the electorates of many EU countries have been lurching to the Right. This was demonstrated most recently at the weekend, in one of Germany's regional elections. (Berlin can be discounted as it's similar to London in not representing the views of the majority.) With general elections coming up next year, even more countries will be turning blue, rather than the red Mr Burnham remembers the last time he looked.
Please, please help us to carry on our vital work in defence of independence, sovereignty, democracy and freedom by donating today. Thank you.
[ Sources: Danish government | EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thurs 24 Sept 2026
Click here to go to our news headlines
Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
And don't forget actually to post your message after you have previewed it!
Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.
Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.
We think facts matter. Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.
Any credit card user
Quick One-off
From £5 - £1,000
Monthly
From £3 per month
Paypal Users Only - Choose amount first
Quick One-off
Monthly
Something to say about this? Scroll down for reader comments