EU asylum reforms face expert backlash as detention concerns mount
With the framework becoming legally binding on June 12, experts criticise the establishment of third-country return hubs and declining humanitarian aid, despite falling asylum numbers in Germany.
Migration researchers and policy experts have issued a stark critique of the European Union’s Common European Asylum System (CEAS), warning that the newly adopted framework risks expanding detention-like facilities and further marginalising vulnerable asylum seekers. The criticism coincides with the publication of the "Global Refugee Crisis 2026" report in Berlin, which highlights a global displacement figure of over 117 million people, a doubling from the previous decade.
The CEAS framework, adopted in 2024, becomes legally binding across all EU member states on June 12. Petra Bendel of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg expressed specific concern over plans to concentrate refugees with no prospect of asylum in repatriation centres located in third countries. These "return hubs," described by Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt as "innovative," are central to tougher migration policies and are reportedly being considered in nations such as Tunisia, Egypt, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Bendel argued that the German state must live up to its responsibility to provide protection, citing the halt of resettlement programs for people from Afghanistan as a case in point. She warned that these measures leave many refugees stranded in Pakistan and exposed to persecution by the Taliban, representing a failure of state responsibility. Franck Düvell of the University of Osnabrück described the EU reform as "poorly crafted," warning of potential overlaps and a rollback of rights for children, women, and families.
Despite these warnings, European politicians are proceeding with stricter policies. Düvell noted a significant decline in asylum applications in Germany, which fell from 330,000 in 2023 to 113,000 two years later. In the first quarter of 2026, approximately 22,000 applications were registered, suggesting a potential annual total of fewer than 90,000. The report also indicated that between 1.5 and 2 million fewer refugees are present in Turkey, Iran, and Sudan, while approximately 4 million Ukrainians have returned to their home towns and villages despite the ongoing war.
Benjamin Etzold of the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies stated that mass returns to Syria are unrealistic due to devastated infrastructure, extreme poverty, and lack of protection for ethnic and religious minorities under the new regime. Etzold pointed out that Germany has halved its humanitarian aid and renewed cuts to its development cooperation budget, urging the government to continue strengthening the United Nations and refugee organizations rather than adopting isolationist policies.
