Pushbacks in the Aegean: German Navy turns a blind eye. Frontex joins in

dossier

"The fact that the German Navy does not intervene when the Greek coast guard makes boats with refugees unusable and pushes them back across the sea border to Turkey is an aid to so-called pushbacks. The federal government is thereby breaking international law. It is also jointly responsible for all the victims of this deadly European refugee policy in the Aegean (...) The Aegean is probably the best monitored section of the Mediterranean; Frontex alone deploys a dozen ships there to ward off unwanted migration, The federal police have two patrol boats and a helicopter. In my opinion, it is impossible to overlook the numerous violations of international law by the Greek authorities (…) The government in Athens is violating the European Convention on Human Rights. Press release from Andrej Hunko from August 11, 2020 toAnswer from the Federal Ministry of Defense to the written question on observed “push backs” in the Aegean and on the suspension and expansion of Frontex missions. See:

• Sea-Watch recovers drowned people in the Mediterranean and criticizes Frontex: EU states accept deaths in favor of deterrence
  "... The crew of the rescue ship "Aurora" of the Sea-Watch organization rescued 28 people after a shipwreck in international waters between Tunisia and Italy on Tuesday morning. They also took two dead people on board, including a child. According to survivors, at least six other people are missing, including three children from a family. (...) Although the EU border agency Frontex is also active with aircraft and drones in the central Mediterranean, sea rescue is not the main focus. This is proven by an incident from Saturday, about which Sea-Watch reported on social media. The organization's reconnaissance aircraft "Seabird" was able to listen to a radio message from the Italian drone "Falcon01" flying for Frontex. The Frontex pilot confirmed in the uploaded sequence that he had passed on the position of a rubber boat to the so-called Libyan coast guard. The approximately 65 people in distress were then intercepted by a Libyan patrol boat and taken to Libya Abduction. The pattern is not new. As "nd" reported in January, after a boat is sighted, Frontex informs the rescue control centers of the neighboring countries, i.e. Italy, Malta, Tunisia and Libya. Only if a Frontex crew considers a boat to be unseaworthy does the pilot make an additional emergency call on radio channel 16, which all ships in the area hear and rely on this radio message.(…) Research by »nd« and Sea-Watch showed that in several cases the course and speed of the boats were missing in Frontex radio messages over the emergency channel. Sea Watch aircraft specifically asked for this information in several cases, but in vain. In these cases, the Libyan Coast Guard reached the people before the civilian ships and brought them back to Libya. (…) Sea Watch spokeswoman Julia Winkler criticized on Tuesday that governments are currently celebrating the falling number of arrivals of migrants in Europe as a success. What this means is made clear by cases like those in the Mediterranean on Tuesday. (…)This year alone, more than 1,970 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean while searching for protection. Anyone who makes deterrence a priority consciously accepts such deaths, explains Winkler. “Frontex must not turn a blind eye when people drown and certainly not contribute to those seeking protection being illegally pushed back by the Libyan coast guard,” says left-wing politician Demirel, who is also the migration policy spokeswoman for her group in the EU Parliament. The border agency needs “control and transparency instead of even more power and expanding the mandate.” The EU Commission plans to present the proposal for such an expansion on October 28th.” Article by Matthias Monroy from September 29, 2026 in New Germany online 
• Number of “repatriations” with Frontex doubled in three years 
  “Deportation center in Warsaw run by federal police officers carries out half of all EU deportations
  The EU border agency Frontex almost doubled the number of “returns” it supported last year compared to 2023. This emerges from an internal presentation shown at a meeting of a working group of EU states two weeks ago. According to this, over 63,493 people were taken out of the European Union with Frontex involvement in 2025, including over a third under coercion. In 2023 there were still 39,231 “repatriations”, almost half of which were involuntary. ThePresentation entitled “Implementation of Frontex activities in the area of ​​return” was published by the British civil rights organization Statewatch…”Article by Matthias Monroy from February 8th, 2026 in ND online 
• ECJ makes it clear: Frontex cannot hide behind the member states. When it comes to returns, Frontex must respect fundamental rights just as the member states do
  "... It's about a repatriation that not only happened quickly - but from a legal point of view possibly a bit too quickly. Just a few days after their arrival in Greece, a Syrian family was taken to Turkey as part of a joint return operation by Greece and the EU border protection agency Frontex. The family did not want to accept that everything was supposed to have been done fairly. The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has now partially agreed with them: The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has the role of Frontex in such actions was not correctly assessed (judgment of December 18, 2025, case C-679/23 P). Specifically, the ECJ largely overturned the court's earlier judgment and referred the matter back for a new decision Coast Guard. It explicitly obliges Frontex to ensure that fundamental rights are respected in the context of such actions. This also includes the obligation to check whether there are written and enforceable return decisions for all persons that a Member State wants to include in a joint return operation. A return decision is an official order that requires a person to leave the territory. Without this formal act, there must be no return stand.The court therefore wrongly assumed that Frontex only provided technical and operational support without having to take a legal look at the conditions for return. In addition, the ECJ criticized another legal error: the court had assumed that only the member state involved - in this case Greece - was liable for possible violations of fundamental rights during a return flight. It completely ruled out any liability on the part of Frontex. Here too, the ECJ put the brakes on. Violations of fundamental rights in the context of a joint return operation can give rise not only to the responsibility of the Member State, but also to the liability of Frontex. Union law does not allow a blanket exemption for the agency. The ECJ made it clear in another Frontex decision on the same day that this was not an isolated case. (…) In another decision on the same day, the ECJ upped the ante and once again held Frontex accountable - this time with particular emphasis on the right to effective judicial protection (judgment of December 18, 2025, case C-136/24 P). (…) According to Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which guarantees the right to an effective remedy, legal protection must not become a mere formality. Particularly in the case of alleged pushbacks, those affected are often in a situation of particular need for protection, which actually makes it almost impossible for them to secure reliable evidence. If Frontex itself has relevant information, it should not simply be left out.The ECJ therefore demanded a correction in the distribution of the burden of proof: it is sufficient if those affected provide so-called prima facie evidence - i.e. provide sufficiently detailed, consistent and plausible information. In this case, the court is obliged to take evidence and actively encourage Frontex to disclose the relevant information. Here too, the ECJ overturned the ECJ's decision and referred the matter back. The message is unmistakable: Where Frontex operates, effective protection of fundamental rights must not fail due to problems of evidence.” Report from December 18, 2025 in LTO 
• Deadly politics in practice: Two children die in the Mediterranean because Frontex doesn't help
  “A boat with 99 people on board capsizes in the central Mediterranean. The German aid organization Sea-Watch accuses the EU border protection agency Frontex of having intervened too late. She did not respond to emergency calls. Two children died when an overcrowded boat with 99 migrants on board capsized in the central Mediterranean. As the EU border protection agency Frontex also announced, one person is missing. 96 others were rescued. The accident occurred on Tuesday in international waters between Libya and Tunisia. According to Frontex, the agency's reconnaissance aircraft was initially tasked with tracking down a boat that had previously been reported by a non-governmental organization. After the aircraft discovered the boat, emergency calls were made and a rescue operation was initiated. (…) According to the German aid organization Sea-Watch, their reconnaissance aircraft “Seabird 2” had discovered the overcrowded boat the day before. Despite multiple emergency calls, no rescue was initially initiated. Survivors reported being at sea for four days. Sea-Watch writes on the short message service.”…”Report from July 31, 2025 in Migazin 
• FragDenState and Sea Watch are suing Frontex in the European Union Court  
  • After Sea-Watch vs. Frontex, now Frontex vs. Sea-Watch: Legal costs of over €11,000 demanded - equivalent to 700 life jackets, please donate
    
    • €11,000 = 700 lives: Collects for Sea-Watch sea rescue
      “This morning Sea-Watch unloaded 700 life jackets in front of the headquarters of the EU border agency Frontex in Brussels. Each vest represents a life that could be saved - a life that Frontex is putting at risk.
      Why?
      Because Frontex is asking us to pay more than €11,000 in legal costs after we sued them in the EU Court of Justice in 2024 for their opaque and deadly work. Although the European Parliament has repeatedly called on Frontex not to financially burden civil society organizations, the agency is now trying to intimidate us into silence.
      But we won't allow that. We are protesting to show: €11,000 is not an abstract number - €11,000 means 700 life-saving vests. And we always choose life.
      So that we can keep fighting, we need you by our side.
      Donate now so that we can continue our operations in the Mediterranean, against letting people die, against Frontex's deadly work.
      Frontex wants us to pay and remain silent. Help us to respond with solidarity.”Call for donations from and at Sea-Watch and the background:
    • “Frontex wants €11,000 in court costs from us. We converted them directly. 700 life jackets are now in front of your office in Brussels, @frontex.bsky.social. Now do what you are paid to do. Or get rid of yourself.
      Why all this?
      Frontex is complicit in illegal pullbacks! That's why, with the support of @fragdenstaat.de, we filed a lawsuit in April 2022 for the release of information about an illegal pullback that we documented on July 30, 2021.
      https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/interactive/2022/12/08/airborne-complicity-frontex-aerial-surveillance-enables-abuse
      Although the border agency is obliged to be transparent towards the public and concealed over 100 photos, the EU court largely rejected our lawsuit 2 years later and cemented Frontex's impunity at the EU's external borders.
      Normally, EU institutions refrain from burdening civil actors with court costs. But we already know that Frontex is dishonorable. That's why it's not surprising that they are now actually demanding €11,000 from us.”Thread from Sea-Watch from July 17, 2025 on bsky with photos and references
  • Sea Watch vs. Frontex
    “On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the Court of the European Union in Luxembourg decided in the case of Sea-Watch vs. Frontex. While the court failed to establish transparency and accountability, it found that Frontex wrongly kept more than 100 photos secret. These could prove the border agency's involvement in a human rights violation in the Mediterranean. In April 2022, Sea-Watch, with the support of the organization FragDenStaat, filed a lawsuit demanding the release of information that would prove Frontex's involvement in human rights violations. Frontex had previously rejected all requests under the Freedom of Information Regulation.
    The General Court of the European Union now stated in its decision that the border agency had previously concealed the existence of over 100 photographs that were the subject of Sea-Watch's application. The court therefore finds that the refusal of access to these photographs is not justified. However, the EU court largely rejected Sea-Watch's lawsuit with its current ruling. Although the border agency is obliged to be transparent towards the public, the ruling prevents the requested documents from being released. It thus cements Frontex’s impunity at Europe’s external borders…”Report from April 22, 2024 from and at Sea-Watch 
  • Sea Watch vs. Frontex
    “Today, Wednesday, the hearing in the case of Sea-Watch against Frontex will take place before the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg. The civilian sea rescue organization filed a lawsuit in April 2022. The border agency had previously rejected requests under the Freedom of Information Regulation. The release of the withheld information is intended to prove that Frontex is involved in human rights violations in the Mediterranean. Specifically, Sea-Watch refers to the case of a pullback that violated international law on July 30, 2021, which was witnessed by the reconnaissance aircraft Seabird and the rescue ship Sea-Watch 3. (…) As shown by the organizations Human Rights Watch and Border Forensics, it must be assumed that Frontex made this illegal interception possible. (…) With the support of the organization FragDenStaat, Sea-Watch has therefore filed a lawsuit against Frontex before the Court of the European Union…”Report from October 11th, 2023 at Sea-Watch , see also:
  • Background to the caseBorder Forensics and Human Rights Watch 
  • FragDenState and Sea Watch sue Frontex: European court negotiates secret cooperation with Libya
    Article by Matthias Monroy from October 11, 2023 in ND online 
  • Sea Watch and FragDenState: Human Rights against Frontex
    Article by Matthias Monroy from October 11, 2023 in ND online 
  • See also our dossier:Project Sea-Watch: Stop standing by and watch people die in the Mediterranean
• 120,000 pushbacks at the EU's external borders: New study proves systematic practice
  "The number of systematic rejections of migrants at the EU's external borders has increased dramatically in recent years. A current report by nine human rights organizations from different countries now documents more than 120,457 such pushbacks in 2024 alone. According to the report, the situation is particularly serious in Bulgaria, where 52,534 pushbacks towards Turkey were registered last year. Other EU countries such as Greece (14 482), Poland (13,600), Hungary (5,713), Latvia (5,388), Croatia (1,905) and Lithuania (1,002) were responsible for a significant number of illegal rejections. No total number, but there is also individual information about the Cypriot coast guard, which rejected at least seven boats with hundreds of asylum seekers in 2024. The practice violates applicable EU law and international agreements. because it prevents people from applying for asylum and thus exercising a fundamental right. This is often done through the use of state violence: asylum seekers are brutally beaten by border troops, as in the Balkans, abandoned at sea in the icy cold like on the border with Belarus (…) Non-EU states such as Libya (21,762) and Lebanon (3,768) are also included According to the report, their interception operations at sea are carried out with “direct and extensive” support from Italy, Cyprus and EU institutions. In May 2024, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Beirut to promise Lebanon one billion euros for migration control and economic aid.Libya receives similar funds, but exclusively to control or prevent migration. (…) The organizations are calling on EU member states to immediately end the pushback practice, set up independent monitoring mechanisms, stop Frontex activities in countries with systematic violations of the law and tie border protection funding to compliance with human rights. They are demanding that the EU Commission initiate infringement proceedings against states that violate EU law, suspend funding for national border management in the event of violations of the law and stop supporting the Libyan and Lebanese coast guards.” Article by Matthias Monroy from February 19, 2025 in Neues Deutschland online 
• Internal investigation into pushbacks: Serious allegations against Frontex confirmed
  “At the beginning of the year, Frontex was apparently involved in pushbacks again - research by NDR and WDR has shown this. Internal investigations are now also discovering serious errors. Frontex director Leijtens is under pressure to act.
  After months of internal investigations, Frontex's fundamental rights officer has made serious allegations against Frontex personnel who were deployed in the Mediterranean. This emerges from investigation reports that NDR and WDR evaluated. Accordingly, the border guards made mistakes in connection with possibly illegal pushbacks. In two cases, the officers massively violated their own reporting obligations, according to the investigation reports. Frontex, the European border and coast guard agency, has now stated upon request that it is closely examining the fundamental rights officer's recommendations made in the report. (…)
  The Frontex investigations confirm the research: it was the Bulgarian ship in question on a Frontex mission that hit the dinghy with migrants. Accordingly, the crew apparently did not intervene despite the calls for help. Frontex staff are also said to have failed to even report such an incident involving endangered migrants on the high seas during that shift. According to the report, the Bulgarian Frontex crew denied in internal interviews that they had encountered a boat with migrants during the shift in question. After reviewing all the evidence, the internal auditors believe it is proven that the Frontex crew came across the migrants near Lesbos. It is noted with concern that the crew's reports were not complete. (…) The internal auditors also found clear errors in the second incident. A video shows a full inflatable boat with around 30 people traveling on the sea at the end of January 2024. You can see a small boat approaching, which, given its markings, probably belongs to the Greek coast guard. However, masked people sitting inside do not help, but obviously threaten with sticks. In the background you can see a larger Frontex boat. The investigation now finds “with certainty” that the boat with the migrants had reached Greek waters and was said to have been intercepted there twice - once by the Frontex boat near the border and once by the Greek coast guard near the island of Lesbos.It is also confirmed that the Greek coast guard's speedboat created such waves with its maneuvers a short distance from the overcrowded dinghy that the people in the dinghy were in danger. (…) Frontex director Hans Leijtens finds himself in need of explanation with the new investigation results: He took up the post at the beginning of 2023 with the promise that Frontex would no longer be involved in illegal pushbacks in the future.In an interview with Reschke television The Frontex boss explained that operational control always lies with the respective country of operation - in the current cases, Greece. In questionable cases, he expects at least a report from his staff. And that's exactly what didn't happen in these two cases, as the investigation by the Fundamental Rights Commissioner shows: no help - and no report.”Research by Manuel Bewarder, Giorgos Christides, Stefanie Dodt and Jonas Schreijäg, NDR/WDR, on September 27th, 2024 in tagesschau.de 
• Frontex: expensive failure at Europe's borders. New trouble for Frontex and new pushback allegations
  • EU border protection agency: New trouble for Frontex and new pushback allegations
    “According to research by NDR and WDR, the EU border protection agency Frontex is having difficulties with its new elite unit. Internal investigations following new pushback allegations are also causing unrest.
     The EU border protection agency Frontex is struggling with several internal problems. This is shown by research by Reschke Fernsehen. On the one hand, this concerns difficulties with the new Frontex elite force, the Standing Corps. There are also new internal investigations into possible involvement in illegal pushbacks of migrants. The European agency based in Warsaw is once again threatened with trouble - and the new director Hans Leijtens, who has only been in office for just over a year, has to ask himself whether the restart he has announced will actually succeed. (…)
     The new research now shows that several EU member states have clearly criticized the new elite unit internally. This emerges from a meeting minutes of the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Borders and Asylum Issues (SAEGA), which could be viewed exclusively for this research. The paper is from February. High-ranking European officials exchange ideas in the committee. A few countries praised the new troops. However, states on the EU's external border in particular were critical. Spain, for example, stated that the Standing Corps personnel are currently often not usable effectively. Greece criticized the selection process, training and capacity building of the new unit as “in need of improvement”. Several countries, including Italy and France, complained that the unit was not tailored well enough “to the needs and requirements of the member states”. (…)
    Possible pushbacks reconstructed
    Reschke Fernsehen has reconstructed these two possible pushbacks together with the Berlin research agency Forensis. For the analysis, interviews were conducted with eyewitnesses and recordings taken by people on inflatable boats were evaluated and were first shared with the Norwegian NGO Aegean Boat Report. Forensis was able to compare the mountain ranges in the video with the real landscape using a visual comparison and thus determine the suspected crime scenes more precisely. Accordingly, both incidents occurred in Greek waters. There are further indications that the incidents took place in the EU: this is also indicated by cell phone location data transmitted by people on the boats…”Research by Manuel Bewarder, Giorgos Christides, Stefanie Dodt and Jonas Schreijäg, NDR/WDR, on May 23, 2024 in tagesschau.de also in:
  • Frontex: expensive failure at Europe's borders
    “Exclusive research into current pushback allegations and massive criticism of an elite unit: In this episode, Reschke Fernsehen looks behind the scenes of Frontex, the European border protection agency. Migration is the major conflict issue in Europe. The extreme right uses it for their election campaign. And the EU and its politicians agree on one thing above all: more money, more personnel – for Frontex. EU citizens now pay almost a billion a year for the most expensive EU agency. To this end, Frontex is intended to help EU states prevent irregular migration and at the same time protect human rights at the borders. The EU now even has its own standing corps for Frontex. However, research by Reschke Fernsehen shows: The new elite unit deploys fewer people than expected and is receiving massive criticism from EU member states. In addition, current pushback allegations are causing unrest.”Video of the article on Reschke Fernsehen on May 23, 2024 in the ARD media library 
• Illegal pushbacks: EU citizens' initiative against “dirty and racist border protection” needs one million signatures
  “… A “European Citizens’ Initiative” coming from Italy calls for compliance with the ban on torture and inhumane treatment at the EU’s external borders. The background to the petition is the many documented cases of violence against those seeking protection at the EU's external borders and also at national borders within the European Union, said co-initiator Maria Cristina Francesconi on Friday in Berlin. Those seeking protection would be prevented from entering the EU by the EU border police or would be pushed back again with so-called illegal pushbacks. A “European Citizens’ Initiative” is a means of direct democracy at EU level. In this specific case, a million people from the EU must support the initiative entitled “Stop border violence - Article 4: Stop torture and inhumane treatment at European borders” with their signature by July 10th in order to be successful in Brussels, said Francesconi. Then the EU Commission must deal with the initiative. So far there are only 12,000 signatures. (…) A “Black Book of Pushbacks” published in 2020 had documented over 12,000 such cases at the EU’s external borders alone, said Harald Glöde from Borderline Europe. However, the illegal actions against those seeking protection are regularly negated and covered up by the EU governments. According to Glöde's assessment, it should serve as a deterrent, for example to let people drown. The impunity of the perpetrators in turn leads to them acting ever more brutally and ruthlessly. “This also happens in our names and with our tax money,” warned Glöde. There is now a habituation effect, for example to “alleged ship accidents”.At the same time, the narrative of the danger posed by so-called “illegal migration” is ingraining itself in society: “That’s why it’s important to say ‘Stop’ now.” (…) The Iranian Parvin A., who now lives in Dresden, knows this from her own experience and speaks of a “dirty and racist border protection policy in Europe”. According to her own statements, the young woman was pushed back to Turkey by Greek border guards six times while fleeing Iran, where she was severely mistreated and illegally imprisoned. “Everything was secret, we weren’t even heard or registered bureaucratically, even though that’s our right,” reported A.. At the border, human rights are worthless for people like her. Only race matters. She has been looking for protection for six years, said A., who said she had to flee the clerical-fascist mullah regime in Iran: “Compare that to the situation of the Ukraine refugees.” Europe must find another way to deal with its borders, “without violence and pushbacks”.” Report from January 21, 2024 from and at MiGAZIN toStopborderviolence – Article 4: Stop torture and inhumane treatment at European borders 
• Pushbacks in the Aegean: Observation of border officials in Greece hindered – “Mare Liberum” initiative dissolves amid accusations against the EU 
  “Since 2018, the ship “Mare Liberum” has been cruising in the eastern Aegean on a central migration route across the Mediterranean. The respective crew specifically observes the actions of Greek border authorities when boats with refugees on board arrive - and have repeatedly documented the illegal pushback of people onto Turkish territory or sea areas. (…) But this work was increasingly made impossible by new requirements and reprisals from the Greek authorities. And so the Mare Liberum association, which bought the ship from the Sea-Watch organization in 2018, has now announced that it is dissolving itself. As Mare Liberum announced on Tuesday, the activists were deliberately blocked on the one hand by representatives of local security authorities on the Greek island of Lesbos and on the other hand by the legislation of the right-wing conservative government in Athens.
  Among other things, a change in the law in September 2021 caused protests at the NGO. Since the new regulation, according to Mare Liberum, in addition to a registration and certification requirement for organizations in the coast guard's area of ​​responsibility, there have been high penalties if crew members do not immediately follow instructions from the authorities. All attempts to take action against the law have failed, according to the association's declaration of dissolution. “The obedient execution of every order to leave crime scenes is incompatible with the aim of our human rights monitoring.” In order not to endanger the personal safety of those active in the association, we are forced to stop working as an association, according to a press release. After the tightening of the law, Mare Liberum initially continued its observation work from land. The ship has now been handed over to Togetherland gUG, which now operates it under the name Mare*Go. According to information on the Mare Liberum website, Mare*Go will also be used at the EU's external borders.
  The association once again made serious allegations against the EU governments. »Neither the Federal Republic nor other EU governments are seriously committed to the human rights-compliant treatment of refugees at the EU borders...”Article by Moritz Aschemeyer from May 2nd, 2023 in ND online 
• Report of the Anti-Torture Committee: Council of Europe denounces illegal pushbacks of refugees 
  "... police officers who beat asylum seekers with batons; border guards who push people into rivers; coast guards who put refugees on rickety life rafts, drag them out to sea and then abandon them. This is how the Council of Europe's Anti-Torture Committee describes the situation at Europe's borders. In its annual report published on Thursday, the organization deliberately placed an emphasis on so-called pushbacks - illegal actions in which state officials force people fleeing back across the border without The experts write that the pushbacks are a major cause for concern. During the observation missions, migrants received “many credible allegations of intentional physical abuse by police and border guards.” In the past, the committee criticized Croatia, among other things. During a mission to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the experts found, among other things, a notebook in which border officials had apparently recorded the pushbacks unofficially (...) Although the Council of Europe experts do not pillory any individual states in their annual report, the committee has investigated pushback practices along all major migration routes to Europe.These include the routes across the Mediterranean, the Western Balkan route and, specifically, the route across Eastern Europe. Their conclusion: "It is obvious that such illegal pushback practices are taking place at several borders in Europe." (…) The authors write of "typical dog bites" on limbs, and sometimes border guards deliberately fire their pistols near the refugees' bodies - or drive them naked back across the green border. The migrants' cell phones would either be confiscated or destroyed. Informal detention, often lasting hours, before a pushback can also represent a form of inhumane treatment.” Article by Steffen Lüdke from March 30, 2023 in Spiegel online , see the EnglishReport of the Anti-Torture Committee 
• The role of Frontex in the border regime: Europe's conflict of objectives 
  “Keep borders closed while protecting human rights. Frontex regularly fails in this task, as internal documents show. (…) Investigations are also underway from another side: On Friday, Spiegel reported that the EU anti-fraud agency OLAF is once again investigating Frontex - and now also against its interim director Aija Kalnaja. The border protection agency is, typical of security agencies, notoriously opaque. For years, however, journalists, scientists and NGOs have been obtaining internal Frontex documents through freedom of information laws. The NGO Ask the State (FDS) has now brought together around 4,100 of these documents in a database and made them available to various media, including the taz. The interesting parts are often blacked out, but taken as a whole, the documents show the logic that the Frontex leadership follows. And that our own early warning systems – the “Consultative Forum” and the Fundamental Rights Commissioner – have always fulfilled their task despite their completely inadequate resources. But the agency had priorities other than human and refugee rights. (…) The fact that the EU does not enforce its own law at its borders and does not consistently oblige its own institutions to comply with it is one of the major crises of the rule of law in Europe. The Commission can initiate infringement proceedings in the event of human rights violations. And the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, for example, can check on its own initiative whether Frontex operations by the federal police must be ended if the national border police violate EU law.But in response to a corresponding query from left-wing Bundestag member Clara Bünger, the federal government responded on Thursday that it saw “no reason for German officials to withdraw from the Frontex operation in Greece“.” More comprehensiveArticle by Christian Jakob and Bernd Kasparek from December 17, 2022 in the taz online 
• The most brutal violence against people: The “Black Book Pushbacks” Part 2 documents the continued terrible conditions at the EU’s external borders 
  “The sheer scope of this work is frightening. The “Black Book Pushbacks” published in Brussels on Thursday comprises four thick volumes. On more than 3,600 pages, around 1,600 affected people have their say and report how they were beaten, kicked, humiliated and arbitrarily detained before they were illegally pushed back across a border. These incidents did not occur in Arab torture states, but at the external borders of the EU, sometimes also in the member states themselves. Migrants without life jackets were loaded into inflatable boats by the Greek coast guard and abandoned on the high seas. Croatian border officials shot two twelve-year-old refugees in the face. Time and again, people seeking asylum in the EU were forcibly deported before they could apply. The incidents were compiled by the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), an association of 40 NGOs that support refugees across Europe and document violent attacks.
  It is already the second edition. The first was published in 2020 and only consisted of two volumes. “That shows how much the situation at the external borders has deteriorated,” explains Hope Barker from the BVMN network. An important reason for this is the effects of the corona pandemic. The forced absence of NGOs has “led to an unprecedented increase in the most brutal violence against people.” According to the Black Book, border guards in 13 countries have begun "using cruel deterrence tactics, such as beatings, head shaving, forced disrobing, sexual assault and dog attacks." (…) Although the EU authority [Frontex] itself documented numerous cases in which Greek and Maltese authorities abandoned refugees on the open sea, this had no consequences for Athens and Valletta. Nobody believes that the situation at the external borders could improve. On the contrary: migration was a big topic at the EU-Western Balkans summit that took place this week in Tirana, Albania. The EU representatives made it clear that the accession prospects for states such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia depend on combating illegal migration. (…) At the same time, Romania and Bulgaria were denied full access. Austria, among others, is blocking this because, according to Chancellor Karl Nehammer, too many “unregistered migrants” are coming to Austria via both countries. So if you don't carry out systematic pushbacks, you won't become a club member - that's the clear message to both aspirants…”Article by Fabian Lambeck from December 9th, 2022 in the ND online (“Most brutal violence against people”)
  • Black Book of Pushbacks: Expanded and Updated Edition
    EnglishPress release from December 5, 2022 andthe Black Book at the Border Violence Monitoring Network
  • See also our dossier:The migration caravan in the Balkans: Nobody is threatening the army. The police are already there...
  • And about the first edition of 2020:[The Black Book of Pushbacks] Refugees at the EU's external borders: Europe's shame on 1,500 pages
• Violations of the law at the EU borders: Why SPIEGEL publishes the Frontex investigation report “Systematic violations of the law, concealed by Frontex officials: Investigations by the European anti-fraud office OLAF reveal what is being done to refugees at the EU's external borders. Read the confidential report verbatim.
  20 witness interviews, months-long investigations, more than 120 pages of investigation report: The European anti-fraud office OLAF has worked thoroughly. The investigators searched the offices of the then Frontex leadership around Fabrice Leggeri and viewed WhatsApp messages and emails. The OLAF report led to the resignation of Frontex boss Leggeri in spring 2022. But what investigators have revealed goes far beyond questions of individual culpability. Although it was not the main target of the investigation, the report brutally exposes how Greek border guards in the Aegean are abandoning refugees at sea on inflatable life rafts so that they cannot exercise their right to apply for asylum.Numerous media outlets, including SPIEGEL, have long since proven the illegal practice, but the Greek government still defames the reports as “fake news.” At the same time, the OLAF report shows how the European border protection agency Frontex has become complicit in these unprecedented human rights violations (…) And although it should be clear after reading that the pushbacks are “serious or persistent violations of the law,” Frontex did not withdraw from joint operations, as Article 46 of the Frontex regulations stipulates. (…) In July, SPIEGEL, together with Lighthouse Reports, published for the first timewritten about the content of the report . Now SPIEGEL is publishing the OLAF report together with “FragDenStaat” in the exact wording. The report is of great public interest: it offers Europeans the best basis to date for debating how asylum seekers should be treated at their borders. The secrecy surrounding the report primarily serves to prevent such a discussion from arising. To this day, senior Greek officials say they have not read the report. The responsible EU Commissioner, Margaritis Schinas, does not want to say whether he has been informed about the serious allegations. And to this day, Frontex interim director Aija Kalnaja continues to act unchallenged as if her agency had followed all the rules. (…) Lawyers from the NGO “front-LEX” have already filed a lawsuit with the Court of Justice of the European Union based on the report…” “Article by Giorgos Christides and Steffen Lüdke from October 13, 2022 in Spiegel online for theOLAF investigation report 
  • Seefront-LEX to their lawsuit (English)
• Frontex finances and covers up Greek pushbacks 
  "The still secret report from the EU anti-fraud agency (OLAF) on Frontex has been read by various media and organizations (...). "It shows in detail that Greece is committing pushbacks, Frontex is funding them and covering them up - there are some incredible gems to be found in it. The report confirms all of our reports - and adds important details based on private messages. Instead of preventing the pushbacks, Leggeri and his team covered up Greece, lied to the EU Parliament and “We kept quiet about the fact that Frontex was funding them.” (Steffen Lüdke) German Foreign Minister Baerbock said today in Greece after a visit to the border protection agency Frontex at the port of Piraeus that she wanted to clarify the allegations against Frontex. (…) Steffen Lüdke: "The report is 129 pages long and was presented in February. The public in the EU has no access, even though their money is being used for illegal purposes. The report makes blatant admissions: "Based on the picture and information we had and the pictures we saw, there was a general belief within the agency that we were faced with 'illegal pushbacks', which the management wanted to cover up." The Greek coast guard "seriously endangered the lives of passengers," the officials said, referring to an incident in August 2020 when a flimsy dinghy was towed towards Turkey, which was captured in a Frontex aerial photograph. Frontex then withdrew its surveillance aircraft in order not to witness further violations of fundamental rights. (…) Such events were repeated, the officials wrote in August.“It’s becoming more and more difficult to deal with it.” The incidents posed an “enormous reputational risk” to the agency. OLAF also documents how Frontex officials censor themselves to avoid provoking the wrath of their Greek hosts: “Incidents were not reported through official channels as Frontex dispatched staff feared retaliation from the Greek authorities…” Report from georgbrzoska from July 28, 2022 to the greek solidarity , see also our dossier for push backs:Greek migration policy (with Syriza) – and successors
• Feasibility study on the creation of an independent human rights mechanism at the EU's external borders 
  “Today, PRO ASYL, together with politicians from various parties in the European Parliament, presented a study in which the creation of an independent monitoring mechanism for border protection at the EU's external borders is suggested. The aim is to document the human rights violations committed by border guards against refugees with the help of a newly created consortium in order to be able to punish them in the next step. “The resignation of Frontex boss Fabrice Leggeri last week made it clear once again how much is wrong when it comes to European border protection,” says Karl Kopp, head of PRO ASYL’s European department. “Today we are showing options for what external control of the border guard, which does not yet exist, should look like.” The study was published and financed by PRO ASYL, the Council of Europe, political groups in the European Parliament and individual MEPs from three of the seven political groups. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson was also present at the launch…”Press release from May 4, 2022 from Pro Asyl to Englishstudy , see also:
  • “We need common European legal protection at the borders”
    “Refugees are often victims of unlawful pushbacks in countries such as Greece and Croatia. A study co-edited by PRO ASYL is being published today, suggesting ways to control border protection at the EU's external borders. Markus Jaeger, coordinator of the study, explains what is necessary.
    Human rights are systematically violated at Europe's external borders through pushbacks; Numerous reports make this clear. But these human rights violations are hardly punished and those responsible are not held accountable. Why is that? The first reason for the poor treatment of those seeking protection and the impunity is that the victims are not well-liked. With the exception of people from Ukraine, refugees are not welcomed in Europe. (…) The second reason for the illegal behavior of border guards is a lack of surveillance. There is currently no ongoing and functioning control of what happens at the EU's external borders, independent of governments. This is an abnormal and dangerous situation…”Interview from May 4th, 2022 at Pro Asyl 
• EU court appealed: Lawsuit against Frontex due to involvement in a possible pullback case - the EU border protection agency does not provide relevant evidence 
  "... The rescue organization Sea-Watch has filed a lawsuit against Frontex with the EU court in Luxembourg. It wants to force the release of information on a case in which the EU agency was involved in a pullback on the Mediterranean that violated international law, Sea-Watch explained on Thursday in Berlin. Boat refugees are said to have been forced back to Libya. The incident therefore occurred on July 30, 2021 in the Maltese search and rescue zone. (AZ: T-205/22) The boat in distress with around 20 people on board was “intercepted by the so-called Libyan coast guard and towed back to Libya,” according to the organization. Their own ship “Sea-Watch 3” could have rescued the people and taken them to a safe place in accordance with international law. Before it was intercepted, a Frontex drone was repeatedly close to a distress situation. Frontex refused to release information about this. (…) According to the UN and human rights organizations, the Libyan detention camps for migrants are dangerous. People are subjected to mistreatment, hunger, sexual violence and horrific living conditions. Many refugees dare to make the dangerous crossing across the Mediterranean to escape the camps. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 600 people have died on this route this year. The number of unreported cases is probably much higher.” Report from April 28, 2022 from and at MiGAZIN 

• Pushed back, abandoned, thrown into the water: Last year there were over 10,000 pushbacks by refugees in the Aegean - there were no consequences 
  "It is now no longer a secret: people from African and Arab countries trying to seek protection in the European Union are regularly and brutally prevented from crossing borders or are pushed back to territories outside the EU. Although this is illegal, the number of documented pushbacks in 2021 has hardly changed compared to 2020. "We assume over 10,000 people who were pushed back from Greece," says Saskia Berger from Mare Liberum about "nd". She is co-author of the Pushback Report 2021 published on Thursday. (…) "Access to regular asylum procedures in Greece is becoming increasingly difficult for refugees," says Berger. In addition, supporters are being criminalized, so a lot of things can happen unnoticed. However, it became known to Mare Liberum that almost 5,000 people were left behind on life rafts in Turkish waters in 2021. Since last year, there has been increased observation of people in the process of pushbacks by Greek authorities near the Turkish coast (…) According to the report, in almost all pushbacks from Greece to Turkey, the refugees are robbed of their possessions, their money and their documents. Some witnesses report sexual assault by the officials and even torture (…) The organization criticizes the fact that the executive bodies of the Greek coast guard and Frontex are not threatened with any real consequences In order to pursue pushbacks, the efforts of several EU member states to legalize pushbacks are growing.The Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, also recently warned that the illegal rejection of those seeking protection at Europe's external borders was in danger of becoming more widespread. “Ultimately, safe escape routes are the only way to prevent violence and death at the EU’s external borders,” says Berger. Under no circumstances should pushbacks be accepted as a legitimate means of EU border protection. “As long as the EU makes no real efforts to investigate, punish and prevent these human rights violations, Greece urgently needs an independent monitoring mechanism at its borders,” says Berger.” Article by Ulrike Wagener from April 21, 2022 in New Germany online 
• The institution from February 1, 2022: “Border Management Trial Day” 
  “At the “Border Management Trial Day” at the Frontex headquarters, the prison ensemble learns how to put dubious machinations in the right light…” SeeVideo of the show and individual clips on ZDF and also thatFact check for the broadcast from February 1, 2022 
• Frontex scandal: Europe's borders are a legal vacuum
  “The head of the EU border protection agency Frontex has covered up human rights violations. Nevertheless, the EU states are apparently not drawing any conclusions - they are thus tolerating the constant violation of the law. There are obviously two ways to read the EU Parliament's current report on Europe's border protection agency Frontex. Either like almost all experts, journalists, lawyers, and in general everyone who knows even a little about what is happening in the Aegean. (…) Or you can interpret the report like Leggeri himself. His agency tweeted last Thursday: "Frontex welcomes the report of the review group and its conclusions, which confirm that there is no evidence that the agency is involved in human rights violations." If proof were needed of how far the officials at the Frontex headquarters in Warsaw have strayed from reality, how far they are from the mismanagement and irresponsibility that is rampant there, If you close your eyes, then the agency itself provided it with its reaction to the European Parliament's report...”Analysis by Giorgos Christides, Steffen Lüdke and Maximilian Popp from July 17, 2021 at Speiegl online , see also:
• European Parliament investigation report: Frontex knew about human rights violations - and did nothing
  “For months, EU parliamentarians have been investigating SPIEGEL revelations about illegal pushbacks of refugees in the Aegean. The report is a settlement with Frontex director Leggeri - he is said to have destroyed incriminating material. (…) The working group's report, which SPIEGEL was able to see in advance, reads like a reckoning with Leggeri. He paints the picture of a director who has little interest in respecting human rights at the EU's external borders and does everything he can to cover up violations. The MPs list his misconduct on 17 pages. Frontex has generally dismissed public reports of human rights violations at the EU borders, the report says. The agency also did not respond appropriately to internal information about suspected violations of the law. Leggeri ignores the statements and inquiries of his fundamental rights officer and the so-called consultative forum. These are actually intended to ensure that the agency respects the rights of asylum seekers…”Article by Giorgos Christides, Steffen Lüdke and Maximilian Popp from July 15, 2021 at Spiegel online 
• Greece: Push-backs against people on the run are systematic 
  "A new report from Amnesty International shows how torture, ill-treatment and unlawful push-backs by border officials characterize Greek border policy. People seeking protection are even intercepted up to 700 kilometers from the Greek-Turkish border and deported to Turkey. Amnesty International is also calling on the EU border protection agency Frontex to suspend its operations in Greece because it is failing in its duty to prevent human rights violations. (…) The English-language report “Greece: Violence, lies and pushbacks” documents how the Greek authorities carry out illegal push-backs on land and at sea. It focuses primarily on illegal border police operations between June and December 2020 in the Evros region and on the river of the same name, which forms the Greek-Turkish border. In February and March 2020, Greece violently pushed back those seeking protection in response to Turkey's unilateral opening of its land border. The new research shows that human rights violations continue and have become an entrenched practice. (…) In most cases, the reported acts of violence violated the international ban on inhuman or degrading treatment. Some incidents amounted to torture due to their seriousness and degrading or punitive intent. (…) Amnesty International also addresses Frontex. Vilmar says: "The border protection agency has a duty to prevent human rights violations. If Frontex fails to do this, its operations in Greece must be ended.All the people we spoke to were pushed back from areas where Frontex has a large number of personnel. The agency cannot therefore claim that it is unaware of the abuses that we and many other organizations have documented.”…” Press release from June 23, 2021 from and at Amnesty Germany with link to the original English report, see also:
  • “Overwhelming evidence.” EU MP calls for consequences from Frontex investigation
    “According to Green MEP Marquardt, the result of the investigations into illegal pushbacks in the Aegean Sea is clear. The evidence of systematic human rights violations is overwhelming and Frontex is part of the problem. (…) The Greek authorities are mainly responsible for dragging those seeking refuge back into Turkish waters or leaving them at sea without an engine, for example. Frontex has repeatedly contributed to this through reconnaissance flights. On the other hand, Frontex itself is being increasingly poorly integrated by the Greeks. “They are trying to keep Frontex out of the concrete human rights violations so that there is less evidence of the violations of the law.” Marquardt attributes this, among other things, to the fact that some employees at the Frontex headquarters in Warsaw are against such practices. “They told us in a diplomatic way that they think this is bad.” And on site in the Aegean, for example, a Danish Frontex ship once refused to carry out a pushback for the Greeks. Overall, however, there is a “culture of concealment” at the agency. Most of the 27 EU countries in its supervisory body are also not interested in changing practices at the EU's external border…”Contribution by Phillipp Saure from June 24th, 2021 at MIgazin 
• Lawsuit filed against Frontex. Non-governmental organizations are suing on behalf of asylum seekers 
  “Three non-governmental organizations have filed a lawsuit against the EU border protection agency Frontex with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on behalf of two asylum seekers for human rights violations. Those affected, an unaccompanied minor and a woman, were "forcibly rounded up, attacked, robbed, (...) collectively expelled and finally abandoned on rafts without water, food or navigation on the sea" on the Greek island of Lesbos, the organizations said in a joint statement on Tuesday. The organizations Front-Lex, the Progress Lawyers Network and the Greek group of the human rights organization Helsinki Monitor said that those affected also fell victim to further so-called pushbacks when they tried to apply for asylum in the EU…”AFP report from May 26, 2021 in ND online 
• Illegal pushbacks off Greek islands: How Seehofer is hindering the investigation into the Frontex scandal 
  “The German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is making it more difficult to deal with the illegal pushbacks in the Aegean. This emerges from an internal email from the Interior Ministry to the board of directors of the European border protection agency Frontex, which SPIEGEL has seen. In the letter, Seehofer's house speaks out against creating a new working group. According to the wishes of some EU states and the Commission, it should continue to investigate whether Frontex is involved in legal violations. The German Interior Ministry obviously wants to prevent this…”Article by Giorgos Christides, Steffen Lüdke and Maximilian Popp from April 17, 2021 in Spiegel onlineRead the full story at the source

  Source: labournet.de