The European Parliament’s investigation group on Frontex did not find conclusive evidence that the agency was directly involved in any acts of pushback of migrants or violations of their rights at external borders.
But the agency should have given more weight to allegations against host country border guards, such as the Greek guards, and followed up more closely on complaints and concerns that were reported to it.
This was the conclusion reached on Thursday 15 July by the members of the enquiry group led by Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta), which is also very divided on the fate of the agency’s boss, Frenchman Fabrice Leggeri.
Dutch MEP Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA), rapporteur for the enquiry group, was particularly harsh concerning the executive director, saying she was personally “very shocked” by the report’s findings and doubted that the recommendations for improvement addressed to the agency could be truly implemented “with this executive director”. For the Greens/EFA MEP, this report will only reinforce “the calls for resignation” made by certain groups in Parliament, notably The Left, and will raise the question of trust.
Nevertheless, the report, presented to Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties on Thursday, does not mention Fabrice Leggeri’s fate, as the groups in Parliament agreed not to include this topic in the report. However, it details a series of shortcomings, such as the fact that the agency has not yet recruited all its staff dedicated to the respect of fundamental rights and is not proactive enough in general to respond to the allegations surrounding it. The elected representatives also want more clarity on Frontex’s action in joint operations with Member States.
The working group writes that “several reliable actors, such as national and international human rights bodies and organisations, have regularly reported violations of fundamental rights at the border in a number of Member States, but that Frontex has generally ignored these reports”. It has also “failed to respond adequately to internal observations concerning certain cases of probable violations of fundamental rights in the Member States”.
While the group “did not find conclusive evidence on the direct performance of pushbacks and/or collective expulsions by Frontex in Member States”, it concludes that the Agency “found evidence to support allegations of fundamental rights violations in the Member States with which it was conducting a joint operation, but failed to address and follow up on these violations in a timely, vigilant and effective manner”.
As a result, “Frontex has not prevented these violations, nor reduced the risk of future violations of fundamental rights”.
The group is also “concerned about the lack of cooperation from the Executive Director in ensuring compliance with certain provisions” of the agency’s mandate, which has led to significant delays in the implementation of the Regulation, particularly in the recruitment of Fundamental Rights Officers.
For Tineke Strik, Frontex has not “assumed its responsibilities” and “has not prevented the violations”. As for Hungary, she pointed out that the agency continues to assist the country in carrying out returns despite the fact that the Court of Justice has ruled several provisions of Hungary’s asylum and migration policy illegal.
For Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew Europe, Netherlands), the fact that these pushbacks “could not be proven does not mean that they did not happen”.
Some MEPs nevertheless defended the agency, such as Lena Düpont (EPP, Germany) who said Frontex’s work was “more important than ever, as the situation in Lithuania proves”. “Fulfilling such a mandate is challenging”, and “Frontex must be helped to meet these challenges with constructive criticism and evidence”.
The working group will continue its activities and may decide on a resolution on dysfunction at the agency.
Link to the report: https://bit.ly/3emXvon (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)