The European Union’s border guard organization, Frontex, assists the Greek coast guard in stopping asylum seekers at sea. This is the conclusion of a team of investigative journalists from Lighthouse Reports, Bellingcat, ARD and Der Spiegel, among others.
They analyzed images showing, for example, a Frontex boat deliberately making waves, so that a migrant boat is driven back to Turkish waters. In doing so, Frontex is participating in a practice that goes against international law and European treaties.
Images from the Turkish Coast Guard, which the investigation team has established as authenticity, show a Romanian Frontex ship patrolling northeast of Lesvos with the Greek Coast Guard on 8 June. They sail with an inflatable boat in which 47 asylum seekers are seated, and which tries to sail from Turkey to Lesbos.
Illegal activities
It can be seen that the Frontex ship first stops the boat, then sails away and then skims past the dinghy at high speed, creating waves and the rubber dinghy ending up in a dangerous situation. After the Frontex ship is gone, the Greek Coast Guard pushes the boat back to Turkish waters, where they are picked up by the Turkish Coast Guard.
It has also been recorded at other times that Frontex ships were close by when the Greek Coast Guard pushed back boats. Frontex did not intervene and did not report the incidents to the headquarters in Warsaw.
The European agency that guards the external borders of the European Union thus contributes to illegal practices, the journalists conclude. It is not allowed to return or push back boats with migrants and refugees, not even according to Frontex’s own rules.
It has been internationally agreed that once migrants have arrived in Greek waters, they should be given the opportunity to apply for asylum. The Greek Coast Guard and Frontex are also obliged to rescue people at risk at sea. In addition, they must adhere to the principle of ‘non-refoulement’: an asylum seeker must not be returned to a country where he or she is in danger.
Dumped at sea
The journalists also found evidence that a Frontex plane witnessed an action by the Greek Coast Guard, in which migrants were dumped at sea on an inflatable raft. These migrants were picked up in Samos on April 28 and taken to the open sea by the coast guard, where they were abandoned.
At that moment Frontex’s plane flew low twice. Researchers argue that the occupants of that plane, with modern camera technology on board, must have seen this.
Also at national borders
Frontex does not directly address the allegations in a written response. The agency says all of the incidents described have been reported to the Hellenic Coast Guard, which they say is primarily responsible for the operations at sea. “Greek authorities are conducting an internal investigation and Frontex is not in a position to respond.”
The so-called ‘pushbacks’ of migrants have been an issue for years, also at national borders. The number of reports about this in the Aegean Sea increased considerably this year. The Greek authorities deny that they are doing it, but report that few boats are arriving on the Greek islands.
In recent months, more and more migrants have also been collected from the islands dumped at sea on inflatable rafts.
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