A/HRC/62/35 not been assessed on the merits. These measures raise serious risks of refoulement, including chain refoulement, of lack of individual assessment and effective remedy, and of arbitrary detention and ill-treatment. 1. Australia: third-country reception arrangement with Nauru 15. Following the ruling by the High Court of Australia in the NZYQ case that indefinite immigration detention where removal is not reasonably practicable is unconstitutional,34 at least 300 individuals, many under non-refoulement protection, were released. On 29 August 2025, Australia concluded a new, non-public Memorandum of Understanding with Nauru to facilitate their removal to Nauru, alongside adopting legislation limiting procedural fairness in removal decisions.35 The law allows transfer to third countries without proper notice, an opportunity to be heard or the assessment of risks, and may permit removal before appeals have been exhausted. These measures revive long-standing concerns about the treatment of individuals sent to Nauru.36 2. United States: recent third-country transfer agreements 16. Since the finalization of the report of the Special Rapporteur to the General Assembly on the externalization of migration governance and its effect on the human rights of migrants, 37 the United States has reportedly concluded so-called third-country removal agreements with multiple countries,38 including Antigua and Barbuda, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Guyana, Palau, Poland, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Uzbekistan. Removals under these agreements have reportedly taken place to – among other countries – Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea,39 Eswatini, Ghana, Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uzbekistan.40 Discussions with additional countries have been ongoing, and more recently, transfer agreements have been concluded with Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the first deportation flights to these countries reportedly carried out in April 2026.41 3. European Union: introduction of “return hubs” into European Union legislation 17. The current reform of the European Union return rules, set to be adopted in the first half of 2026, introduces so-called return hubs into the European Union legal framework. Under the future Return Regulation, member States of the European Union may be able to remove a person, apart from in cases where a narrow range of exceptions applies, to a third country with which they have an agreement or arrangement. Although such an agreement or arrangement may be concluded only with a third country that is assessed as respecting international human rights standards and principles, including the principle of non-refoulement, it is unclear how these safeguards will be implemented in practice. Crucially, no connection between the country hosting the return hub and the person will be required. In their joint letter to the European Union of January 2026, 16 special procedures of the Human Rights Council expressed their concern about return hubs agreements and/or arrangements not being conditional on a prior human rights impact assessment and independent oversight, and about the lack of an individual assessment of protection needs prior to the transfer. The return hubs raise serious human rights concerns, in particular 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 6 NZYQ v. Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (2023). Submissions from the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the Refugee Council of Australia. A/80/302, para. 13. A/80/302. Ibid., para. 22. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/05/experts-urge-equatorial-guinea-upholdinternational-obligations-and-halt. See https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/. See https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/democratic-republic-of-the-congo, and https://www.refugeesinternational.org/statements-and-news/refugees-international-concerned-byu-s-costa-rica-third-country-national-deportation-deal (this is a distinct agreement from the one concluded in 2025 noted in A/80/302, para. 22). GE.26-06322