Above all, it is about illegal refusals of people seeking protection at the EU’s external borders: The European Parliament has been harshly criticizing an important EU agency.
A control group of the European Parliament raised serious allegations against the EU border protection agency Frontex in a report presented on Thursday. Specifically, the responsible MPs criticize, among other things, the handling of references to violations of fundamental rights in the countries of assignment.
In the opinion of the inspectors, these were not processed quickly and effectively enough. Frontex boss Fabrice Leggeri is identified as the main person responsible for grievances.
After the report was presented, the Green MEP Erik Marquardt called on the EU member states to replace Leggeri. “The Frontex director has been attracting attention for many months with new scandals and the distortion of facts,” commented Marquardt. Hundreds of reports of human rights violations should no longer remain without consequences.
Frontex was founded by the EU in 2004 and expanded into the European Border and Coast Guard Agency after the refugee crisis that began in 2015. The actual border protection still falls under the responsibility of the member states, but the agency is actually supposed to ensure joint management of the external borders and effectively support national border protection units if necessary.
Instead of visible progress, however, there has recently been mainly criticism of the work of Frontex units. Among other things, it concerns possible illegal rejections of persons seeking protection at the EU’s external borders. According to media reports, Greek border guards have illegally driven boats with migrants back towards Turkey several times. Frontex officials are said to have been nearby and not prevented it. Several EU agencies are investigating the allegations. Frontex boss Leggeri has so far seen no wrongdoing at his authority.
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