EU return hubs plan leaves Molise's empty towns out of migration debate

Five European Union countries are seeking a deal with an unnamed non-EU country to host a 'return hub' for migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected, with a targeted start date of January 1, a Danish minister said Friday, according to The Local Italy.

The proposal, which would see rejected asylum seekers transferred to facilities outside the bloc, is being pushed by a coalition of member states including Denmark, with the aim of streamlining deportations that have long proven administratively and legally fraught across Europe.

For Molise, the smallest and one of the emptiest regions in Italy, the debate over where to send people who cannot stay in Europe carries a particular irony: this is a land that cannot keep its own people, let alone attract newcomers.