Employees of Frontex have been covering up Greece’s illegal pushbacks of migrants to Türkiye in violation of peoples’ "fundamental rights," a much-anticipated report by the European Union’s anti-fraud watchdog (OLAF) said Thursday.
The report looked into the alleged involvement of the EU border agency in such incidents.
The 120-page OLAF report was made public Thursday by the Germany-based freedom of information portal FragDenStaat together with media organizations Der Spiegel and Lighthouse Reports.
Top managers at Frontex committed "serious misconduct and other irregularities" in covering up incidents, not investigating or handling them correctly, the report found, but names were redacted.
"In doing so, they hindered the capacity of Frontex to fully comply with its responsibilities, namely ensuring the protection and promotion of fundamental rights," the report read.
Pushbacks, the forcible return of people across an international border without an assessment of their rights to apply for asylum or other forms of protection, violate both international and EU law.
OLAF investigators poured over information from open sources, media reports but also documents from Frontex, the European Commission and interviews with 20 witnesses to investigate accusations of possible involvement and/or covering up of illegal pushbacks and accusations of misconduct or irregularities.
"OLAF concludes, based on the evidence collected during the investigation, that the allegations are proven," the report read.
There was no immediate comment from Frontex or Greek authorities on the report.
Türkiye and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back irregular migrants, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.
Earlier this year Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri resigned following the OLAF report, which was concluded in February, as well as repeated media investigations that accused the agency of involvement in pushbacks. Until now, the report has not been made public.
Fear of repercussions from Greece
The report details how pushback accusations and evidence of them were mishandled, often not reported or investigated according to Frontex’s own rules.
Frontex officers also may not have reported alleged pushbacks due to fear of repercussions from Greece, the report said. In one case, the report said the EU border agency relocated one of its planes apparently "to avoid witnessing incidents in the Aegean Sea."
EU investigators also noted that Frontex shared incorrect and biased information with EU institutions, including members of the European Commission and Parliament, responsible for holding the agency accountable, as well as OLAF investigators.
"I welcome that the OLAF report is finally public as it should have been from the very beginning," said European Parliament lawmaker Cornelia Ernst, who confirmed the report’s authenticity.
"It proves once again black on white what we have been saying for many years: Frontex is systematically involved in human rights violations and their coverup at the EU’s external borders," she said.
Frontex coordinates search and rescue and border interception operations on behalf of the 27 EU member countries. However, the country on whose territory the operation is happening – in this case, Greece – has command over what goes on.
Both Greece and Frontex have denied any wrongdoing until now but the OLAF report raises questions about whether Frontex will continue operating in Greece.
In recent years, hundreds of thousands of people have made short but perilous journeys across the Aegean to reach Northern and Western Europe in search of a better life. Hundreds of people have died at sea as many boats carrying refugees sank or capsized. The Turkish Coast Guard Command has rescued thousands of others.
Greece has denied allegations of systematic, illegal border pushbacks, despite extensive testimony from alleged victims to media and rights groups.
In June, Athens rejected a United Nations report claiming that its border forces had illegally repelled thousands of asylum seekers over the past two years.
According to its own regulations, Frontex’s executive director should suspend or terminate its activity if they see "violations of fundamental rights or international protection obligations that are of a serious nature or are likely to persist."
Irregular crossings at highest since 2016
Meanwhile, Frontex separately on Thursday said the number of irregular crossings into the European Union rose 70% in the first nine months of 2022 to its highest level since 2016.
The border agency said a total of 228,240 entries were detected, including 106,396 through the Balkans, a 170% increase from the same period in 2021.
"The high number of illegal border crossings can be attributed to repeated crossing attempts by migrants already present in the Western Balkans," Frontex said in a statement.
The second highest number was for the Central Mediterranean route, where 65,572 entries were detected – a 42% rise from the first nine months of last year.
The main nationalities of the migrants attempting to cross into the EU through the Balkans were Syrian, Afghan and Turkish.
Through the Central Mediterranean, the main nationalities were Tunisian, Egyptian and Bangladeshi, the statement said.
The agency also said the number of migrants detected in the Channel trying to cross into Britain so far in 2022 was 52,700 – higher than the figure of 52,000 for all of 2021.
"As the winter approaches, the number of attempts might increase before the sea conditions worsen and make the crossing more dangerous," Frontex said.