Saturday, October 15, 2022

Frontex - Fortress Europe's Frontier Force

 A classified EU report on Frontex, the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency, details serious allegations of cover-ups of human rights violations. The EU’s best-funded agency, with a budget of €754m (£650m) has been under scrutiny due to reports of human rights violations at its borders, including illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers. 

The report, more than 120 pages long, is the result of a months-long investigation by Olaf, the EU anti-fraud agency. Until now the classified document has been available only to members of the European parliament under strict conditions. The report has been leaked, have now published the document in full.

It details how Frontex witnessed or concealed knowledge of pushbacks of asylum seekers from Greek territory.  Frontex staff expressed concern about “repercussions” from local authorities for reporting violations. The report testifies to the credibility of many of the pushback allegations investigated. Allegations concerning Greece make up a significant part of the investigation, but mention is also made of a serious incident of four migrant boats spotted in the Maltese search and rescue zone

EU border agency accused of serious rights violations in leaked report | Global development | The Guardian

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