14 January 2021
Today, Euro-Med Human Rights
Monitor published a new report that documents and analyses
the involvement of Frontex in Greece’s illegal pushbacks of
migrants and asylum seekers to Turkish waters and the
various violations of International and EU human rights laws
entailed.
The report, entitled “Frontex:
Accountability Declined”, highlights a pattern of
the excessive and alarming autonomy of Frontex, as its
budget, role and staff are augmented by the EU without clear
legal boundaries.
In the 10 pushbacks presented,
carried out by the Greek Coast Guard in the Aegean Sea
between March and October 2020, Frontex vessels were either
in close proximity or directly involved. Yet they did not
immediately rescue the migrants in distress at sea nor did
they report the abuses witnessed, as international and
European law, together with the Frontex Code of Conduct
itself, demand. On the contrary, Frontex dismissed the
allegations, discouraged crews from filing reports on
pushbacks, and, in some cases, stopped initial alerts of
violations from being filed.
The episodes presented in
the report stand out for the severity of the violations
committed, the detailed evidence reported, and the reactions
provoked so far at the European level.
The allegations
led the EU Ombudsman to open an inquiry and the EU Home
Affairs Commissioner to call for two extraordinary Frontex
Management Board meetings and to establish a Working Group
on fundamental rights. It will verify the allegations and
deliver its first report next meeting, on January 21, 2021.
In the meanwhile, several European MEPs have called for the
immediate resignation of Frontex Executive
Director.
Euro-Med Monitor’s report aims to
contribute to increasing the momentum and pressure on the
European Commission to take concrete actions towards ending
Frontex’s violations and increasing its
transparency.
“As the role and the powers of Frontex
grow alarmingly, with an increasing budget of over 460
million Euro and new and controversial
military drones to surveil the Mediterranean, its
involvement in Greek pushbacks increases, and so should its
accountability,” Michela Pugliese, Legal Researcher at the
Euro-Med Monitor.
The report stresses the need to hold
Frontex into account. While return decisions and asylum
applications are the responsibility of Member States,
Frontex has the competence to ensure human rights’
compliance at the European external borders, to prevent
violations from occurring and to report it when it witnesses
one.
In the report, the Euro-Med Human Rights
Monitor formulate several recommendations calling
inter alia
on:
- Frontex to
immediately halt the illegal pushbacks of migrants to
Turkey; to conduct a transparent investigation and prosecute
all officials involved; to ensure that its operations and
partners are consistent with human rights’ obligations;
and to significantly enhance the information available about
its operational activities at
sea.
- Europe to hold
Frontex, as well as Greece, accountable for their pushbacks
and other violations committed at the European external
borders; to impose more stringent transparency and
accountability measures over Frontex’s practices; to
ensure that Frontex activities fully respect international
human rights and refugee law, as well as the law of the sea;
and to quickly put in place an independent monitoring
mechanism.
