All the flaws of Frontex

Several NGOs have accused Frontex of having allowed and covered up numerous episodes of illegal refoulement of migrants from Greece to Turkey. And according to an Olaf report from last October, senior Frontex officials have committed "serious misconduct and irregularities" by covering up or failing to adequately investigate human rights violations.

The tragedy of Cutro forcefully reopened the issue of immigration and the effectiveness of instruments, such as Frontex, which the states of the European Union have equipped themselves with to govern it. Last Sunday , a boat carrying almost 200 people on board , leaving from Turkey, broke in two due to rough seas a few meters from the coast of "Steccato" di Cutro, near Crotone. Only 80 people managed to save themselves while 64 bodies were recovered, it is feared that the victims are more than 100. But who manages and why did the sea rescue system not work for a boat that had signaled its presence and that had launched a myday?

WHAT IS FRONTEX

Since 2004 , Frontex has been helping EU countries and countries associated with the Schengen area to manage their external borders. “It also helps to harmonize border controls across the EU. The agency facilitates collaboration between the border authorities of individual EU countries by providing technical assistance and know-how”. The tasks of Frontex are manifold ranging from risk analysis , coordination of joint operations , management of joint returns and the exchange of information and data between border authorities. For countries particularly exposed to migratory flows, such as Greece, Italy and Spain, Frontex coordinates sea operations and land operations for Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Slovakia.

HOW FRONTEX IS CHANGING

Member countries have responded to the increased pressure of migratory flows by increasing the operational role of Frontex. The change, as Prof. Alessandra Servidori on Startmag , arrives in the context of the 2014-2016 migration crisis, which accelerated the transformation of Frontex by giving it a strengthened mandate and responsibilities. The main novelty was the establishment of the European Border and Coast Guard standing corps , with executive powers to support Member States on the ground in their efforts to protect the EU's external borders. By 2027 there will be 10,000 people recruited for this purpose. At the same time, the budget of Frontex has also increased, from €333 million in 2019 to €364 million in 2020 and from €535 million in 2021 to €754 million in 2022.

THE OLAF REPORT THAT FRONTEX INRUITES

This increased centrality of Frontex has turned the spotlight on its work. Several NGOs have accused Frontex of having allowed and covered up numerous episodes of illegal refoulement of migrants from Greece to Turkey. The complaints have attracted the attention of OLAF , the European office that "investigates cases of fraud against the EU budget and cases of corruption and serious breach of professional obligations within the European institutions ". According to a second Olaf report from last October, senior Frontex officials have committed " serious misconduct and irregularities " by covering up or failing to adequately investigate human rights violations.

THE CONCEALMENT OF REPULSES AT SEA

The accusations, which emerged from Olaf's document and published by Domani , and by the German weekly Der Spiegel , Lighthouse reports and by the FragDenStaat association , reveal the internal maneuvers of the European Agency to conceal cases of pushbacks at sea, violating conventions, codes and regulations interior. " Incidents " , as defined in Olaf's report, which Frontex should have reported by specifying the category to which they belong according to internal procedures. Olaf pointed out numerous anomalies precisely in the way these events are reported. Indeed, Frontex would not only have been a direct witness but would have collaborated in pushbacks at sea.

OLAF'S ACCUSATIONS AND THE RESIGNATION OF THE HEAD OF FRONTEX

Olaf's investigation led to the resignation of the agency's executive director, Fabrice Leggeri. The Olaf report provides detailed evidence of human rights violations. Among these private e-mails and WhatsApp messages from the former head of Frontex and his team which, as Domani writes, demonstrate how the EU border agency has supported the push-backs of migrants at the maritime borders of Europe, at risk of the life of migrants. Using Union taxpayers' money. “We withdrew our FSA some time ago – reads the report -, to avoid witnessing incidents and alleged push-backs ” (FSA is the abbreviation of “Frontex Surveillance Aircraft” and refers to the surveillance aircraft used by Frontex to patrol the Mediterranean). So at that time Frontex abandoned its aerial monitoring in the Aegean Sea in order not to witness illegal practices committed by the Hellenic Coast Guard. There are seven incidents listed in the indictment against Frontex . Six concern push-backs between Greece and Turkey. The latest occurred on the route that leads from Libya to Italy, the "Easter Monday massacre", which saw 12 people die after a 5-day journey without water or food.

THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

Last December, the NGO Human Rights Watch , together with digital investigators Border Forensics, published a report on Frontex' aerial surveillance at sea. The NGO found that out of more than 32,000 people intercepted and returned by the Libyan Coast Guard in 2021, almost a third were reported by Frontex air surveillance (FSA). Among the allegations is also the lack of transparency of Frontex which makes it difficult to verify the data and prevents accountability. “In examining 27 of the 30 submitted freedom of information requests – the rest are pending – Frontex identified thousands of relevant documents, but released only 86. Many were heavily censored. Frontex has refused requests to visit the situation center in Warsaw and to speak with operational staff.”

FRONTEX HAD INTERCEPTED THE SHIPWRECKED IN CUTRO

Returning to last Sunday's tragedy according to a dispatch from the operations room of the search and rescue center of the General Command of the Port Authorities, at 4.57 on Saturday morning an Italian radio station had received a request for help for a boat in distress in the Ionian Sea. Subsequently at 21.26 the sighting arrives from a Frontex aircraft , the Eagle 1, which went out for a patrol on the Ionian for the Themis operation. The plane sighted the boat, photographed it and sent a report to 26 addresses (including MRCC Rome), in which it signals the presence of a boat with "on board doors open and a significant thermal response". This means that the aircraft had traced the presence of numerous people below decks.