EU agency calls for probes into human rights abuses at borders

The EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) has urged for comprehensive investigations into alleged human rights abuses of migrants and refugees at the EU’s borders, spanning the Balkans, the Mediterranean and the English Channel.

Challenges in reporting

In a recent report, FRA highlighted “the vast number of credible reports” concerning loss of life and alleged mistreatment at both land and sea borders.

Despite these numerous reports, investigations remain scarce.

The report detailed “serious and life-threatening human rights violations,” including physical violence, failure to rescue individuals in distress and forced family separations.

FRA noted that victims seldom report these incidents because of their vulnerable situations.

In France, for example, only one in ten cases reported to a civil society organization in Calais resulted in a formal complaint.

A notable incident from October 2022 exemplifies the hurdles faced by investigators.

French police discovered an unaccompanied child hiding in a truck bound for the U.K.

The child, later found unconscious with a fractured skull, was reported to the public prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

However, a month later, the child had left for the U.K. and could not be located.

Call to action

FRA emphasized that the lack of investigations “casts a negative light on border management authorities’ operations.”

Even when cases are investigated, national court proceedings rarely result in convictions, fostering a “sense of impunity.”

FRA’s Director Sirpa Rautio stressed Europe’s “duty” to ensure fair and respectful treatment of everyone at its borders, in full compliance with human rights law.

She called for “effective and rights-compliant border management practices” and thorough investigations into all reported rights abuses.