Frontex is the “European Border and Coast Guard Agency” and was created in 2004 to improve “the integrated management of the external borders of the Member States of the European Union.” It was created without a parliamentary decision, and after its creation it was given parliamentary legitimacy. Their focus is on protecting the “EU's external borders”, which was welcomed by EU-member states in the wake of the 9/11 attack in the United States. Following the events of 2015, the EU commission proposed a significant expansion of its mandate and budget, which was subsequently approved by the European Council, to reform to the “European Border and Coast Guard Agency”. However, the agency is still widely referred to as ‘Frontex’. Since then, the agency has expanded exponentially, with 26 country members and currently operating and being present in at least 22 countries on both land and sea borders. For more information on what Frontex is and how it operates, check out our blog post from November: Frontex: protection or abuse?
As in the aforementioned article, there is a growing body of evidence that Frontex has actively participated and been complicit in pushbacks on the external borders of the EU, and recently even from non-EU into EU countries such as from Albania to Greece. Both Josoor and the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) have been documenting testimonies from people on the move who accuse both national authorities in Frontex operational areas and Frontex officers themselves of being involved in pushbacks.
Identifications in these accounts include officers wearing the distinctive blue armband, which is worn by Frontex officers. There is a wealth of evidence mentioning officers with Frontex insignia or identification, which can be found in testimonies on the BVMN database. For example, a testimony, taken by No Name Kitchen, recounts a pushback involving nine people (including children) where officers are described as wearing “a light blue band on the upper arm”. Another testimony of a pushback, taken by Josoor, involved 60 people (including a one-year-old baby) also described “the flag of the European Union” on a “light blue armband”.
Frontex vehicles have also been identified in pushback testimonies. Often, when identifying Frontex involvement in pushbacks, foreign number plates on vehicles parked at clandestine detention sites are mentioned. Most frequently, Hungarian and German license plates are identified by respondents. Multiple testimonies recounting pushbacks from Greece to Turkey, as well as Greece to Bulgaria, include several masked German-speaking officers, some with German flags on their uniforms. Due to a lack of transparency, the total number of teams and officers deployed in each operational area is unknown. At least 100 German officers are permanently supporting Frontex missions. Whether the so-called “masked men” are indeed Frontex officers, remains to be confirmed, but should be either disclosed or investigated by Frontex as well as independent authorities.
In addition to being accused of active involvement in illegal pushbacks, Frontex has also been implicated in pushbacks carried out by the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG). Overwhelming evidence shows how Frontex has helped cover up numerous pushbacks. The agency is also accused of being complicit in several other incidents of pushbacks and suspected of systematically collaborating with the HCG to cover up illegal pushbacks.
Frontex is also actively involved in the forced return of third-country nationals back to their country of origin, an undertaking that has drastically increased over the last five years as they have come to charter more than 1000 deportation flights each month. This has partially mirrored the agency’s increasing budget, which grew from six million Euros in 2005 to 540 million in 2021 and is slated to keep increasing—the European Commission proposed to provide Frontex with 11 billion (!) Euros between 2021 and 2027.
Frontex has repeatedly denied allegations of its involvement and complicity in pushbacks. As recently as April 2021, Frontex’s Executive Director, Fabrice Leggeri, claimed there was “no evidence that Frontex, or officers deployed by the member states under Frontex operations, have participated in or covered up any illegal pushbacks in the maritime domain”.
The agency has supposedly investigated reports of human rights violations committed by its officers, however its methods for investigating are intransparent. The outcome of the investigation concluded that Frontex was innocent, while also leaving several cases open with no conclusion announced. This has led to accusations that its supposed investigations are nothing more than a “PR stunt” meant to “feign accountability”.
However, Frontex has its own legal personality and executive powers. There is no body that exercises operational supersions over Frontex, resulting in behaviour that seems the agency sees itself above the law. Leggeri is not obliged to “seek nor take instructions from any government or from any other body” and the agency itself “should be independent as regards operational and technical matters and have legal, administrative and financial autonomy”, as per Regulation 2019/1896. The European Commission is not authorised to issue orders to the agency, so Frontex can simply ignore them and cannot be held accountable for their continued violation of fundamental rights.
Last autumn, we wrote about an extraordinary meeting that took place between the EU Commission and Frontex on Tuesday 10th November due to the overwhelming evidence and allegations of Frontex involvement in pushbacks. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss these allegations and seek an outcome. Civil Society Organisations were demanding for the promised hiring of Fundamental Rights Monitors (which should have happened a while ago) and an independent investigation into the incidents. After the meeting, the European Ombudsman announced they would open an inquiry into Frontex to assess the effectiveness and transparency of their ‘Complaints Mechanism’ and the role and independence of the ‘Fundamental Rights Officer’ (FRO). They have yet to announce their findings, but have since opened an additional investigation into the Agency’s withholding of information regarding the position of Frontex boats in the Aegean Sea. Other recent independent investigations have also revealed continued concerns about how Frontex operates and how it continually disregards the human rights of asylum seekers.
The blatant and continuous denials by Leggeri, as well as the inadequate investigations, show the unwillingness of the agency to address these grave fundamental rights issues appropriately. There is growing action and frustration among EU politicians that seek to address this lack of accountability. In March of 2021, the European Parliament voted to postpone signing off on Frontex’s budget until it’s concerns are addressed, including the delay in hiring 40 Fundamental Rights Monitors, positions that were supposed to be filled by the deadline of December 2020 (as per Article 110(6), 2019 Regulation). This regulation was agreed upon 13th November 2019, and in order to meet the deadline Frontex was supposed to start recruitment earlier. But they did not even though they were given ample time to do so.
Members of the European Parliament have joined the chorus to publicly condemn Frontex, as well as calling for and conducting independent investigations.
Furthermore there are concerning reports about Frontex staff meetings with lobbyists representing weapons manufacturers in recent years, without transparency about who was in attendance or what was discussed. While Frontex officers do not have the mandate to be armed, there are plans for Frontex officers in Greece to start carrying weapons as soon as summer of 2021.
Frontex has been plagued with other problems. In February of 2021, Der Spiegel detailed the way that Leggeri repeatedly undermined the agency’s FRO, eventually replacing her with a former cabinet member—a clear conflict of interest. He has also been suspected of possible fraud and accused of workplace harassment and poor leadership.
As a result of the allegations of harassment, pushbacks, and other misconduct, the agency is currently under investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud watchdog, OLAF. Both Leggeri’s office and that of his Head of Cabinet were raided in December 2020, though an OLAF spokesperson refused to comment other than confirming the ongoing investigation.
Pushbacks violate national, EU and international law, as well as basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. Pushbacks are illegal. Yet they are conducted on Europe's borders on a daily basis, and the evidence of Frontex’s involvement and complicity in pushbacks is overwhelming. While the European Union presents itself as the cradle of human rights, Frontex receives more funds from the EU than any other EU-funded agency. Illegal practices and systematic rights violations funded by the European Union cannot be tolerated.
Simply replacing Leggeri with another Director would not change anything, the problem is systemic and deeply embedded throughout the agency. The issue is with the agency itself, not individuals, and multiple reforms of Frontex were unsuccessful.
For these reasons we call for an independent monitoring mechanism into Frontex’s complicity and involvement in these gross fundamental rights violations. Continued reviews and investigations should include independent judicial reviews with independent arbitrators, to ensure objective and reliable conclusions are reached.
Frontex has proved many times that it cannot be reformed. Between the political mandate to stop migration and the legal obligation to protect fundamental rights, another reform would be no use. We, at Josoor, believe the only solution is to replace Frontex with a true European Coastguard coordinating Search and Rescue. This is the only way to end fundamental rights violations on our borders and ensure safe passage.
In light of all of this, it is important to remember that Frontex itself is only a symptom of the European border regime, built on increasing externalisation and punitive deterrence instead of human rights and fundamental freedoms. For illegal pushbacks and other gross human rights violations to end on our borders, we need to change the perception of and approach to movement. We need to stop framing the movement as a threat and security issue and instead see it for what it is: a function of global society necessary for all of us to survive which has always been part of our human history. We need to stop treating people on the move as a problem to get rid of instead of human beings with fundamental rights enshrined in our laws. With our current border regime, we are not only destroying human lives on a daily basis, we are destroying our own democracies.
Video: “Frontex: EUs Deportation Machine” | Lighthouse Reports
Frontex: Scandals Plunge Europe's Border Agency into Turmoil | DER SPIEGEL
EU refuses to approve Frontex’s budget over human rights concerns | European Union News | Al Jazeera
'Frontex should have no role in asylum procedures' | MEP Birgit Sippel
Frontex Turns a Blind Eye to Greece’s Border Abuses | Human Rights Watch
EU Border Agency Pulls out of Hungary Over Rights Abuses | New York Times
Twitter Thread from @StatewatchEU exposing Frontex’s Human Rights Abuses: Statewatch
Testimony Database: Border Violence Monitoring Network
Frontex Involvement in Pushback Operations | Border Violence Monitoring Network
EU: Tens of thousands of people call for Frontex director to step down | Statewatch
Frontex is the “European Border and Coast Guard Agency” and was created in 2004 to improve “the integrated management of the external borders of the Member States of the European Union.” It was created without a parliamentary decision, and after its creation it was given parliamentary legitimacy. Their focus is on protecting the “EU's external borders”, which was welcomed by EU-member states in the wake of the 9/11 attack in the United States. Following the events of 2015, the EU commission proposed a significant expansion of its mandate and budget, which was subsequently approved by the European Council, to reform to the “European Border and Coast Guard Agency”. However, the agency is still widely referred to as ‘Frontex’. Since then, the agency has expanded exponentially, with 26 country members and currently operating and being present in at least 22 countries on both land and sea borders. For more information on what Frontex is and how it operates, check out our blog post from November: Frontex: protection or abuse?
As in the aforementioned article, there is a growing body of evidence that Frontex has actively participated and been complicit in pushbacks on the external borders of the EU, and recently even from non-EU into EU countries such as from Albania to Greece. Both Josoor and the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) have been documenting testimonies from people on the move who accuse both national authorities in Frontex operational areas and Frontex officers themselves of being involved in pushbacks.
Identifications in these accounts include officers wearing the distinctive blue armband, which is worn by Frontex officers. There is a wealth of evidence mentioning officers with Frontex insignia or identification, which can be found in testimonies on the BVMN database. For example, a testimony, taken by No Name Kitchen, recounts a pushback involving nine people (including children) where officers are described as wearing “a light blue band on the upper arm”. Another testimony of a pushback, taken by Josoor, involved 60 people (including a one-year-old baby) also described “the flag of the European Union” on a “light blue armband”.
Frontex vehicles have also been identified in pushback testimonies. Often, when identifying Frontex involvement in pushbacks, foreign number plates on vehicles parked at clandestine detention sites are mentioned. Most frequently, Hungarian and German license plates are identified by respondents. Multiple testimonies recounting pushbacks from Greece to Turkey, as well as Greece to Bulgaria, include several masked German-speaking officers, some with German flags on their uniforms. Due to a lack of transparency, the total number of teams and officers deployed in each operational area is unknown. At least 100 German officers are permanently supporting Frontex missions. Whether the so-called “masked men” are indeed Frontex officers, remains to be confirmed, but should be either disclosed or investigated by Frontex as well as independent authorities.
In addition to being accused of active involvement in illegal pushbacks, Frontex has also been implicated in pushbacks carried out by the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG). Overwhelming evidence shows how Frontex has helped cover up numerous pushbacks. The agency is also accused of being complicit in several other incidents of pushbacks and suspected of systematically collaborating with the HCG to cover up illegal pushbacks.
Frontex is also actively involved in the forced return of third-country nationals back to their country of origin, an undertaking that has drastically increased over the last five years as they have come to charter more than 1000 deportation flights each month. This has partially mirrored the agency’s increasing budget, which grew from six million Euros in 2005 to 540 million in 2021 and is slated to keep increasing—the European Commission proposed to provide Frontex with 11 billion (!) Euros between 2021 and 2027.
Frontex has repeatedly denied allegations of its involvement and complicity in pushbacks. As recently as April 2021, Frontex’s Executive Director, Fabrice Leggeri, claimed there was “no evidence that Frontex, or officers deployed by the member states under Frontex operations, have participated in or covered up any illegal pushbacks in the maritime domain”.
The agency has supposedly investigated reports of human rights violations committed by its officers, however its methods for investigating are intransparent. The outcome of the investigation concluded that Frontex was innocent, while also leaving several cases open with no conclusion announced. This has led to accusations that its supposed investigations are nothing more than a “PR stunt” meant to “feign accountability”.
However, Frontex has its own legal personality and executive powers. There is no body that exercises operational supersions over Frontex, resulting in behaviour that seems the agency sees itself above the law. Leggeri is not obliged to “seek nor take instructions from any government or from any other body” and the agency itself “should be independent as regards operational and technical matters and have legal, administrative and financial autonomy”, as per Regulation 2019/1896. The European Commission is not authorised to issue orders to the agency, so Frontex can simply ignore them and cannot be held accountable for their continued violation of fundamental rights.
Last autumn, we wrote about an extraordinary meeting that took place between the EU Commission and Frontex on Tuesday 10th November due to the overwhelming evidence and allegations of Frontex involvement in pushbacks. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss these allegations and seek an outcome. Civil Society Organisations were demanding for the promised hiring of Fundamental Rights Monitors (which should have happened a while ago) and an independent investigation into the incidents. After the meeting, the European Ombudsman announced they would open an inquiry into Frontex to assess the effectiveness and transparency of their ‘Complaints Mechanism’ and the role and independence of the ‘Fundamental Rights Officer’ (FRO). They have yet to announce their findings, but have since opened an additional investigation into the Agency’s withholding of information regarding the position of Frontex boats in the Aegean Sea. Other recent independent investigations have also revealed continued concerns about how Frontex operates and how it continually disregards the human rights of asylum seekers.
The blatant and continuous denials by Leggeri, as well as the inadequate investigations, show the unwillingness of the agency to address these grave fundamental rights issues appropriately. There is growing action and frustration among EU politicians that seek to address this lack of accountability. In March of 2021, the European Parliament voted to postpone signing off on Frontex’s budget until it’s concerns are addressed, including the delay in hiring 40 Fundamental Rights Monitors, positions that were supposed to be filled by the deadline of December 2020 (as per Article 110(6), 2019 Regulation). This regulation was agreed upon 13th November 2019, and in order to meet the deadline Frontex was supposed to start recruitment earlier. But they did not even though they were given ample time to do so.
Members of the European Parliament have joined the chorus to publicly condemn Frontex, as well as calling for and conducting independent investigations.
Furthermore there are concerning reports about Frontex staff meetings with lobbyists representing weapons manufacturers in recent years, without transparency about who was in attendance or what was discussed. While Frontex officers do not have the mandate to be armed, there are plans for Frontex officers in Greece to start carrying weapons as soon as summer of 2021.
Frontex has been plagued with other problems. In February of 2021, Der Spiegel detailed the way that Leggeri repeatedly undermined the agency’s FRO, eventually replacing her with a former cabinet member—a clear conflict of interest. He has also been suspected of possible fraud and accused of workplace harassment and poor leadership.
As a result of the allegations of harassment, pushbacks, and other misconduct, the agency is currently under investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud watchdog, OLAF. Both Leggeri’s office and that of his Head of Cabinet were raided in December 2020, though an OLAF spokesperson refused to comment other than confirming the ongoing investigation.
Pushbacks violate national, EU and international law, as well as basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. Pushbacks are illegal. Yet they are conducted on Europe's borders on a daily basis, and the evidence of Frontex’s involvement and complicity in pushbacks is overwhelming. While the European Union presents itself as the cradle of human rights, Frontex receives more funds from the EU than any other EU-funded agency. Illegal practices and systematic rights violations funded by the European Union cannot be tolerated.
Simply replacing Leggeri with another Director would not change anything, the problem is systemic and deeply embedded throughout the agency. The issue is with the agency itself, not individuals, and multiple reforms of Frontex were unsuccessful.
For these reasons we call for an independent monitoring mechanism into Frontex’s complicity and involvement in these gross fundamental rights violations. Continued reviews and investigations should include independent judicial reviews with independent arbitrators, to ensure objective and reliable conclusions are reached.
Frontex has proved many times that it cannot be reformed. Between the political mandate to stop migration and the legal obligation to protect fundamental rights, another reform would be no use. We, at Josoor, believe the only solution is to replace Frontex with a true European Coastguard coordinating Search and Rescue. This is the only way to end fundamental rights violations on our borders and ensure safe passage.
In light of all of this, it is important to remember that Frontex itself is only a symptom of the European border regime, built on increasing externalisation and punitive deterrence instead of human rights and fundamental freedoms. For illegal pushbacks and other gross human rights violations to end on our borders, we need to change the perception of and approach to movement. We need to stop framing the movement as a threat and security issue and instead see it for what it is: a function of global society necessary for all of us to survive which has always been part of our human history. We need to stop treating people on the move as a problem to get rid of instead of human beings with fundamental rights enshrined in our laws. With our current border regime, we are not only destroying human lives on a daily basis, we are destroying our own democracies.
Video: “Frontex: EUs Deportation Machine” | Lighthouse Reports
Frontex: Scandals Plunge Europe's Border Agency into Turmoil | DER SPIEGEL
EU refuses to approve Frontex’s budget over human rights concerns | European Union News | Al Jazeera
'Frontex should have no role in asylum procedures' | MEP Birgit Sippel
Frontex Turns a Blind Eye to Greece’s Border Abuses | Human Rights Watch
EU Border Agency Pulls out of Hungary Over Rights Abuses | New York Times
Twitter Thread from @StatewatchEU exposing Frontex’s Human Rights Abuses: Statewatch
Testimony Database: Border Violence Monitoring Network
Frontex Involvement in Pushback Operations | Border Violence Monitoring Network
EU: Tens of thousands of people call for Frontex director to step down | Statewatch
