Brussels, 21/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday 21 September, Michele Cercone, spokesman for European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, rejected allegations made in a report published that same day by Human Rights Watch on human rights violations during Frontex operations in Greece.
In its report, Human Rights Watch accuses Frontex of sending migrants who had been apprehended to overcrowded detention centres. According to the report, the European Court of Human Rights had established that, in such centres, conditions were inhumane and degrading. The EU border guards, then, had been well aware of where they were sending the migrants, it is claimed.
Malmström's spokesman replied that responsibility for the conditions of detention in the centres lay with the Greek authorities, which also provided the operational command of the Frontex officials. These officials, Cercone said, could be held answerable for any violations within their area of responsibility. “They cannot be held responsible for the failings of a member state”, he argued. He said the Commission had taken steps to identify and resolve problems and an action plan was being studied by the Greek authorities.
He announced, too, that Malmström was to meet representatives of Human Rights Watch in the afternoon of Wednesday 21 September. (DD/transl.rt)