Frontex chief must be sacked after migrant pushbacks

A joint-investigation by Lighthouse Reports, Bellingcat, Der Spiegel, ARD and Asahi TV has uncovered damning evidence that Frontex, the EU’s coastal and border guard agency, has been deliberately stopping people from reaching the EU via the Aegean.

According to the exposé – released today – Frontex has been complicit in the illegal, violent pushback of migrants and refugees in Greece. Yet, despite clear evidence of human right breaches, including leaked documents, as well as interviews with migrants and Frontex staff, the agency denies any involvement in such pushbacks.

As recently as July, Frontex executive director Fabrice Leggeri appeared before the EU Parliament’s civil liberties committee to say only one incident of pushback had been reported. Cornelia Ernst (Die Linke, Germany):

"This investigation now proves what NGOs, researchers, lawyers and many others have been saying for many months: Frontex has not only been aware of illegal push-backs from Greece to Turkey, they are complicit in such breaches of European and international law. What is more, they have even invested considerable administrative time and resources into covering up these pushbacks. ...

This report shows how an EU agency is at cahoots with the authorities in member states in breaching of EU law. Fabrice Leggeri, the director of Frontex, has also lied to the EU Parliament’s civil liberties committee when he said that they were not aware of any pushbacks.”

The European Parliament reports that the alleged involvement of Frontex staff in pushbacks of asylum-seekers by the Greek border guard will be the focus of a debate in the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday.

"... Last October, ahead of media revelations, the Frontex consultative forum -which gathers, among others, representatives of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), UNHCR, the Council of Europe and IOM- voiced concerns in its annual report. The forum pointed to the absence of an effective monitoring system to prevent and address potential fundamental rights violations in the Agency’s activities. ..."

Read more https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201126IPR92509/meps-to-grill-frontex-director-on-agency-s-role-in-pushbacks-of-asylum-seekers
and https://www.guengl.eu/frontex-chief-must-be-sacked-after-migrant-pushback-expose/

Comment

If you like a crypted answer you may copy your public key into this field. (Optional) Public Key

To prevent the use of this form by spam robots, please enter the portrayed character set in the left picture below into the right field.

CC license   European Civil Liberties Network   Bundesfreiwilligendienst   We don't store your data   World Beyond War   Use Tor router   Use HTTPS   No Java   For Transparency