Half of the sightings by the EU border agency Frontex prompted Search and Rescue missions or migrant interceptions by Libyan coastguards in international waters, according to a new report, a practice that typically leads to people being illegally returned to an unsafe country.
The findings were published in the 2022 annual report of the Frontex Consultative Forum on Monday (26 June). The Forum was created in 2012 by EU institutions, international and civil society organisations to advise Frontex on fundamental rights matters.
The Forum explains that when Frontex intercepts migrants in distress in international waters close to the Libyan coast, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC) of the countries overlooking the Mediterranean Sea are warned.
However, according to the report, Frontex “directly” contacted the Libyans on several occasions.
The report stressed that “returns to Libya may amount to violations of the principle of non-refoulment,” which states that “no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm”.
“It is reasonably foreseeable that intercepted/rescued survivors will suffer serious fundamental rights violations after their disembarkation in Libya, including murder, enslavement, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, trafficking, extortion, enforced disappearance and sexual violence,” the report said.
Despite the Forum’ recommendations not being legally binding, Frontex’ management “should consult the Forum on the fundamental rights strategy, the functioning of the complaints mechanism, the codes of conduct, the common training curricula and any other fundamental rights matters”.
Frontex’ operations
Frontex operates in EU member states using a wide range of vessels and other assets.
Among others, Frontex conducts operations via planes, intercepting boats and sharing live streaming video, thermal cameras signs and an overall analysis of the footage to national authorities. Based on this kind of information, the national authority has the ‘sovereignty’ to decide what action to take.
The countries bordering the shores of the Mediterranean divided the international waters into different ‘Search and Rescue’ (SAR) areas – which are not legally binding – to facilitate the coordination of such operations.
The division could not prevent, for instance, an EU country from operating in the SAR zone of Libya, which are international waters.
Territorial waters, access to which must be given by national authorities, extend up to 12 nautical miles from the coast – approximately 22 kilometres.
Usually, the country closest to the distress case should intervene. However, NGOs operating in the area noticed that most countries do not reply, or reply after a lengthy delay due to lack of coordination in managing such emergencies.
Surveillance
The Forum expressed concerns about the fundamental rights impact of Frontex Multipurpose Aerial Surveillance (MAS) operations, when the EU agency communicates distress cases to Libya.
“Libya cannot be regarded as a place of safety for the purpose of disembarkation of refugees and migrants rescued at sea,” the report argued, pointing to the long-running civil war in the North African state.
A UN fact finding mission in Libya in late March revealed that “the pattern of interceptions at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard followed by arbitrary arrest and detention by the Department for Combating Illegal Migration”.
For these reasons, the Forum stated that the coordination of the SAR zones among different MRCCs “cannot override international human rights and refugee law nor set aside obligations under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which Frontex is bound by”.
This principle is also stated in the Frontex’ Fundamental Rights Action Plan, according to which the EU agency must communicate “sightings and initial actions regarding distress situations to the competent and other relevant [MRCCs], in line with the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue and in compliance with international human rights and EU law including the principle of non-refoulment and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights”.
The Forum also mentioned the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) investigation on Frontex last year, which published evidence of “withdrawn MAS assets to avoid witnessing incidents potentially resulting in fundamental rights violations”.
The OLAF report prompted the resignation in April 2022 of then-executive director Fabrice Leggeri. Since then, the EU agency promised a sharp change with the “practices of the past”.
Frontex risk analyses based on unreliable information, EU watchdog says
The EU border management agency Frontex produces untrustworthy risk analyses on migration due to the ‘low reliability of the data collected’, an investigation conducted by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) found on Wednesday (31 May).
[Edited by Benjamin Fox]
Read more with EURACTIV
Mitsotakis sworn in as Greek PM, promises more jobs and ‘big changes’Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised to rebuild Greece’s credit rating, create jobs, raise wages and boost state revenues after he was sworn in for a second term as prime minister on Monday (26 June) following a resounding election win.
Source: euractiv.com
