The Netherlands says it will send rejected asylum seekers back to Italy for the first time in three years, joining five other European countries that are resuming so-called Dublin transfers.
DR reports that a spokesperson for Dutch asylum and migration minister Bart van den Brink announced the decision on Friday. The statement was first carried by the Italian news agency ANSA. It is the first such move since Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suspended the reception of migrants from other EU countries three years ago.
According to DR, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland have also said they will resume returns to Italy. The Dutch government has stated that only migrants who applied for asylum after June 12 will be transferred.
The announcements have drawn criticism from Italian opposition politicians. Giuseppe Conte, former prime minister and leader of the Five Star Movement, wrote on X that the government had produced a boomerang effect, after Italy suspended Schengen cooperation with Spain over migration flows to Ceuta. Meloni rejected any connection in a Facebook post on Friday, saying her government had refused to passively accept demands from other states.
Transfers already underway
ANSA reported that Austria had already sent the first four Dublin cases back to Italy by August 20. Brussels Signal reported that Germany’s first transfer was scheduled for August 19, and that Rome rejected it. According to Anadolu Agency, Switzerland planned to restart transfers by the end of August, initially in isolated cases.
Victoria Holmqvist, spokeswoman for the Swedish migration ministry, told DR that the EU migration pact has made the transfers easier. As reported by Euronews, Sweden expects all member states to meet their obligations under the new rules. Finland’s interior ministry said transfers were being prepared, according to ANEWS.
The immediate trigger is the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, which entered into force on June 12, 2026. Under the new legislation, countries at the EU’s external border can claim around 20,000 euros, or 150,000 kroner, in compensation per asylum seeker who cannot be transferred.
Italy and Germany are in a diplomatic dispute after Meloni’s government refused to receive a 22-year-old Somali woman in August. The Italian interior ministry insists that only migrants who arrived in Europe after June 12 can be returned under the pact.
Jonas Bornemann, associate professor of European migration law at the University of Groningen, told DR that Italy’s refusal is plainly unlawful. He said there appears to be a political motive in rejecting returns regardless of EU law. He assessed that the conflict could continue for some time and ultimately end in a court case.
DR, citing figures from Eurostat, reported that Italy received more than 24,000 requests to take back migrants in 2025, more than any other country. Only 85 migrants were actually returned that year.
DR asked the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration whether Denmark plans to resume Dublin returns to Italy. The ministry had not responded to the inquiry.
