"We are getting closer to being able to create a centre outside Europe," said Mette Frederiksen at a summit of European leaders in Dublin. "We will be able to say more about it next week."
For several months, five European Union countries -- Germany, Austria, Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands -- have been in talks to set up one of these centres as soon as possible, despite opposition from rights groups.
Rwanda has been named alongside Uganda and Uzbekistan among a group of potential hosts, but diplomats and other people briefed on the talks said it was now the clear frontrunner.
The African Great Lakes nation had confirmed in August it had begun "preliminary discussions" with several European states, without specifying which ones.
Until recently a fringe idea, the plan reflects the tougher stance sought by many governments on migration at a time when a souring public opinion towards immigration has fuelled far-right electoral gains across the continent.
Proponents say return hubs -- which would serve either as the final destination or as transfer centres for those expelled -- could facilitate repatriations and act as a deterrent for would-be irregular migrants.
But critics question their effectiveness, pointing to the hurdles faced by similar projects and likening them to "legal black holes" that could see migrants stranded in limbo with little oversight.
The announcement of the return hub country could be made on the sidelines of a conference on migration issues to be held in Vienna on 16 and 17 November, several sources told AFP.
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© Agence France-Presse
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