Frontex announces an internal inquiry into media reports of pushbacks in the Aegean

Last week (23 October) Bellingcat* reported that the EU’s border agency, Frontex, was complicit in illegal pushbacks.

Asked about the report (26 October) Adalbert Jahnz, European Commission spokesperson on migration said: “We have indeed seen the report by Bellingcat and a number of other media and we are taking this matter very seriously. The Commission is deeply concerned about reports of pushbacks or other forms of non-compliance with EU law, including safeguards for protecting fundamental rights and the right to access to asylum.”

Jahnz said that Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson had been in contact with the executive director of Frontex and Greek authorities, the Commission will: “expect both the Greek authorities and Frontex to investigate any such reports thoroughly and ensure full compliance with EU law. We remain in close contact with both the Greek authorities and with Frontex in relation to the required follow up.”

Today (27 October), Frontex announced an internal inquiry into the media reports, but added that: “no documents or other materials have been found to substantiate any accusations of violations of the law, or the Frontex Code of Conduct by deployed officers.”

Frontex Executive Director: “We remain committed to providing support to Greece at its external borders in line with our mandate and in the spirit of EU solidarity, in full respect of fundamental rights and international law.”

— Frontex (@Frontex) October 27, 2020

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Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri, said: “In our conversation and contacts, I informed EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson that we are looking into the accusations levelled by several news organisations related to our activities at Greece’s external borders. We aim to uphold the highest border guarding standards in all of our operations and do not tolerate any violations of the fundamental rights in any of our activities.”

Frontex does not have a mandate to investigate the activities of EU member states, but it has carried out two investigations in “operational dialogue” with Greece and found no evidence of illegal acts in one incident and are still looking into the other. Frontex says that the situation in the eastern Aegean has been complicated for the vessels deployed by Frontex to patrol because of a disagreement between Greece and Turkey over their maritime borders, it says that this has affected search and rescue activities in the area. 

A joint investigation by Bellingcat, Lighthouse Reports, Der Spiegel, ARD and TV Asahi, which received a grant from the Investigative Journalism for Europe fund found that Frontex assets were involved in one pushback incident at the Greek-Turkish maritime border in the Aegean Sea, were present at another and have been in the vicinity of four more since March. Pushbacks or ‘refoulement’ are prohibited under international law.

*Bellingcat is an independent international collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists

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