Violations of migrants‘ rights frequently occur at the external borders of the European Union. At the same time, EU member governments are not doing enough to confront or investigate such violations, according to a report by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) released on Tuesday.
The new report by the agency, known as FRA, says that despite a “huge number of credible reports” of deaths and alleged ill-treatment at EU land and sea borders, there are very few investigations.
The report says “serious and life-threatening human rights violations” include physical abuse, failure to rescue people in distress and forced family separation.
The FRA said victims rarely report such incidents to the police because they are in a vulnerable position.
In France, a community organisation said only one in 10 cases reported to them in Calais resulted in a complaint.
Lawyers and civil society organisations say victims are often reluctant to lodge complaints because they do not trust the authorities or fear possible negative consequences for the asylum procedure. Others say smugglers advise them not to report incidents.
One incident cited in the report as an example of the problems investigators face occurred in October 2022, when “French police stopped an unaccompanied child hiding in a lorry travelling to the UK.”
Agency accuses EU of not doing enough
The report says volunteers found the child unconscious, with a fractured skull. They reported the incident to the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor. But the FRA said that when investigators tried to contact the child a month later, “he had left for the UK and could not be found.”
The report’s authors also claim that Croatia, Greece and Hungary in particular “did not effectively investigate cases of migrants being mistreated or killed during border management.” The report focuses on border management and does not cover administrative procedures related to asylum.
The authors also note that even when incidents are investigated, few national prosecutions result in convictions. “A sense of impunity prevails,” the report notes.
FRA director Sirpa Rautio said Europe had an “obligation” to treat everyone at its borders “fairly, respectfully and in full compliance with human rights laws.” Ms. Rautio called for “effective and human rights-compliant border management practices” and thorough investigations into all cases of rights violations.
The FRA is an independent EU body set up to provide assistance and expertise to the EU and its member states in their implementation of European Union legislation on fundamental rights. The Agency’s aim is to promote full respect for fundamental rights in the EU when adopting certain measures or formulating its lines of action.
