Francesca Ghinami & Giulia Rubino

Present:

FRONTEX is the European agency for the management of operational Cooperation at the external borders of the Member States of the European Union
Frontex was established by Council Regulation (EC) 2007/2004, and started to be operational on October 3, 2005, with seat in Warsaw, in recently entered Polland. Its regulation was later amended by the Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 establishing a mechanism for the creation of Rapid Border Intervention Teams and amending Council Regulation (EC) RABIT, and once again by the Regulation (EU) No 1168/2011

First head: executive administrator colonel Ilkka Laitinen. Its secretariat consists in 272 seconded national experts, temporary, auxiliary and contract staff.

The deployment of temporary workers from other EU contries to support border patrulling actions, has been often related (Many complaints about its temporary -RABIT deployment)

With the reforms of the Lisbon Treaty, FRONTEX assumed juridical subjectivity.
Being namely an administrative organisation, which task should be coordinating EU members authorities actions at the borders, it has total decisorial autonomy in the planning, management and operative aspects of its actions, carried out with military equipments, before put at its own disposal by the Schengen member States, now of its own property.

Frontex has at its own disposal 85 mill , partly donated by the EU fundings, and partly from the Schengen member States.

PLAN, MANAGE, COORDINATE, OPERATE Frontex plans, coordinates, implements and evaluates joint operations conducted using Member States staff and equipment at the external borders (sea, land and air). (http://www.frontex.europa.eu/about/mission-and-tasks) Provide Member States with the necessary support, including coordination or organisation of joint return operations.

COOPERATE Frontex liaises closely with other EU partners involved in the development of the area ofFreedom, Security and Justice such as Europol, EASO, Eurojust, FRA or CEPOL, as well as with customs authorities in order to promote overall cohesion.

Frontex also works closely with the border-control authorities of non-EU/Schengen countries mainly those countries identified as a source or transit route of irregular migration

Ability to establish autonomously bilateral treatments (called Working Arrangements..) with: Russian Federation, Ukraine, Croatia, Moldova, Georgia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United States, Montenegro, Belarus, Canada, Cape Verde, Nigeria and Armenia
(+ CIS Border Troop Commanders Council & the MARRI Regional Centre in the Western Balkans)

In addition, is various stages of negotiations with the authorities of: Turkey, Libya, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania, Egypt, Brazil, Tunisia and Azerbaijan.:

During the RABIT deployment, the European Court of Human Rights found that conditions in Greek migrant detention centers were inhuman and degrading. The court said Belgium violated its human rights obligations by knowingly exposing an Afghan asylum seeker to such treatment when it transferred him back to Greece. (M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece)

Its a disturbing contradiction that at the same time that the European Court of Human Rights was categorically ruling that sending migrants to detention in Greece violated their fundamental rights, Frontex, an EU executive agency, and border guards from EU states were knowingly sending them there, director of Human Rights Watch, Bill Frelick, said.

NGO statement on the note on international protection - UNHCR's 45th Standing Committee, Jun 2009 Migreurop Amnesty International European Parliamentars requests and claim for informations and respect of human rights

Migreurop group, in a report of 2011, pointed out:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6.
7. 8.

A big gap between text and reality in the theme of human rights with several violations, during retournement and identification operations, about the rights of: Asylum Non-refoulement International protection Dignity of life To leave any country Inhuman and degrading treatment To the protection of personal data Non discrimination Risky facilitation of cooperation with third countries

Texts insufficiency to determine responsibility for controls carried out by the Agency

The 13 of september 2010 the Parliament approved the reform of Frontex, with these objectives:

Expanding the power and autonomy of FRONTEX Reduce the cost, improve efficiency More commitment with Human Rights /Preserve it by the blame of violations of international law

Allowing Frontex to finance and implement technical assistance projects in third countries and to deploy liaison officers in third countries (=manage external security projects in EU behalf) Giving Frontex a mandate to analyse operational risks and requirements in the Member States.(=set ME risk agenda)

Compulsory contributions from Member States of: - equipment, which will be combined with the gradual acquisition by Frontex of its own equipment -human resources, which will be combined with a pool of border guards on semi-permanent detachment from Member States to Frontex, with the status of national experts

Future creation of a proper European border guards team

Explicit obligation to respect the principle of non-refoulement No person may be disembarked or handed over to the authorities of a country where his/her life or freedoms could be threatened. Adoption of a Fundamental Rights Strategy, an Inspector for fundamental rights and a Consultive Forum on fundamental rights Institution of Operations code of behaviour in respect of human rights Special courses for borders guard in the matters of fundamental rights, international protetion, asylum and refuge

Possibility to suspend operations in case of heavy violations.

Bilateral diplomacy with third States The adoption of own armaments-equipmentguards :militar assessment of a financied but independent external operations agency of the EU. Delivery of responsabilities: Members of
the European Border Guard Teams shall, while performing their tasks and exercising their powers, remain subject to the disciplinary measures of their home Member State."

Fonts: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc .do?type=REPORT&reference=A7-20110278&format=XML&language=EN Migreurop report: http://barbaralochbihler.de/cms/upload/PDF_2011/GL_Fro ntex_E_1.pdf