# De Wever Tells Parliament Belgium Will Use Return Hubs but Exempt Minors

> The prime minister says Belgium wants to take part in the EU's new offshore return centres for rejected asylum seekers, but that coalition partners pushed him to keep children out of them.

- Source: Belgium Crown
- Canonical URL: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/de-wever-tells-parliament-belgium-will-use-return-hubs-but-exempt-minors
- Author: Belgium Crown Staff
- Section: Politics
- Published: 2026-09-16T11:56:12.264Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T11:56:12.264Z
- Tags: Bart De Wever, return hubs, migration, asylum, European Union

---

Prime Minister Bart De Wever told parliament that Belgium intends to make use of so called return hubs, the offshore detention centres the EU agreed to allow for people with no right to remain in the bloc, but that the country will not send minors to them.

Return hubs are facilities planned in countries outside the EU that would hold rejected asylum seekers and other migrants without legal status, either as a final destination or as a staging point before removal to their home country or elsewhere. The European Parliament approved the legal framework enabling them in June, and Belgium was among 19 European governments, in a letter driven by the Danish and Italian prime ministers, that pushed for the centres to be rolled out quickly. Five countries are currently working to strike a deal with a third country to open the first hub as early as next year.

## A coalition compromise on children

De Wever said Belgium wanted such hubs but that the country had agreed internally not to send minors there, telling lawmakers that coalition partners had raised concerns on the issue. The stance goes beyond what the EU's own rules require, since the agreed regulation exempts only unaccompanied minors from being transferred to the centres, while families travelling with children could still be sent. The prime minister added that the hubs would operate with the utmost respect for human rights.

The policy has already split Belgium's coalition once, when N-VA and CD&V backed the EU's return regulation in the European Parliament in June while Vooruit and Les Engagés voted against it, arguing the law crossed red lines by allowing longer detention of rejected asylum seekers. UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk has separately warned that European states cannot outsource their human rights obligations to third countries, given the risks involved.

---

Originally published by Belgium Crown. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://belgiumcrown.com/article/de-wever-tells-parliament-belgium-will-use-return-hubs-but-exempt-minors.