Commission risks turning Frontex into European ICE

Today, the European Commission has just published its long awaited borders and migration package, which includes a revised Frontex regulation and the digitalisation of returns. The proposals will equip the Agency with expanded surveillance capacities and foresee vast social media monitoring to predict arrivals, introduce a stronger focus on returns, including a role of the agency in return hubs, a role in deporting people and provide quicker deployment of Frontex to third countries. 

Tineke Strik MEP, Greens/EFA coordinator on migration and rapporteur on the Returns Directive during the previous mandate, comments: 

“Instead of chasing evidence-based, pragmatic policies, the Commission is pandering to populism and the far-right on migration. We need a human rights-based approach to border management and Frontex plays a key role. But instead the Commission risks turning Frontex into a European version of ICE as they listen to right-wing rhetoric that dehumanises migrants and treats people as a security threat. The decision to triple the size of Frontex’ standing corps while other EU bodies such as the asylum agency suffer from insufficient resources, shows that the Commission is merely reacting to the right instead of looking at the whole picture. 

“Working hand in hand with autocrats and despots risks making the EU’s border agency complicit in serious human rights violations abroad. Working with third countries, without proper oversight or accountability is a threat to fundamental rights and respect for international law, while leaving Frontex staff in legal limbo outside of European law. 

“Expanding the use of surveillance tech at the borders and sharing personal data risks discriminatory profiling and undermining the right to asylum. Sharing surveillance information with third country actors with well documented breaches of human rights such as the Libyan coastguard will make the EU complicit in abuses abroad.”

More: The Greens/EFA Group recently published what our group would like to see from a Frontex Regulation to make the border force more effective and accountable, which is available here.