Member States of the European Union gave the green light on Friday, November 8 to strengthen Frontex. The agency responsible for the control of the EU's external borders will have a permanent contingent of 10 000 border guards and coast guards by 2027, 700 of whom will be recruited directly from Frontex. A first since it will be the very first uniform service of the European Union.

These agents working for Frontex will have the authorization to "check identity documents, monitor borders and make referrals of people in an irregular situation in Europe," says the agency on its website.

Their role will be to assist countries facing strong migratory pressure. "The number of border guards has so far been insufficient, this reinforcement will serve to better prevent, we can also focus on better forecasting events that may affect our borders and react more quickly than before. to intervene at the time of seasonal migratory pressures, during the summer for example, during which border crossings systematically increase.This can help avoid crisis situations to manage urgently, "says the Frontex agency, joined by France 24.

Emphasis is also placed on the dismantling of organized crime networks and the return of irregular migrants to the borders. "The new rules will enable Frontex to play a greater role in supporting Member States in border control, returns [of irregular migrants] and cooperation with third countries", said Maria Ohisalo, Finnish Minister for the Interior, of which the country holds the EU Presidency.

An unprecedented deployment

The agency, created in 2004 and headquartered in Warsaw, had already seen its resources increased in 2016 after the influx of migration in 2015, but this time the strengthening is of a different scale.

It currently has 700 permanent staff at Headquarters and deploys at the external borders in Italy, Greece, Spain and the Western Balkans between 1,200 and 1,500 staff made available by member countries and associated with the Schengen area. Frontex also has a stock of 1,500 agents provided by the Member States and can be mobilized in case of emergency.

This reinforcement of the staff complemented by a wider mandate had been approved by the European Parliament in April. The adoption by the Member States validates this major project. The decision could come into force before the end of the year.

Frontex has already launched its recruitment campaign. The contingent of permanent staff will be phased in from 2021 and will consist of Frontex operational staff (3 000 by 2027), as well as persons seconded by the Member States for longer and shorter periods of time. . A rapid reaction reserve force will be maintained until the end of 2024.

The largest contingents will be provided by Germany with more than a thousand agents by 2027. Among the thirty participating countries, France will lend nearly 800 agents and Italy nearly 600.

Criticism of violence against migrants

The EU agency is frequently criticized for turning a blind eye to the ill-treatment of migrants by police officers from Member States. Several investigations have revealed that Frontex agents were aware of such abuses in Hungary, Bulgaria and Greece.

For Chloé Peyronnet, a doctoral student in public law and a specialist in the management of the European Union's external borders, the reinforcement of Frontex's staff does not attack this human rights violation at all, on the contrary. "The new regulation will, for the first time, allow Frontex's own agents to use force.This raises the question of liability once again, as officials from the Member States take part in the operations carried out by Fontex. are responsible under the laws of their countries, nothing says that it will be otherwise with regard to the staff of Frontex, with all the problems that this already poses as to the real possibility of pursuing the persons actually involved ", regrets the researcher.

One of the states that poses a particular problem is Croatia, where NGOs, including Doctors of the World and Doctors Without Borders, denounce cases of inhuman and degrading treatment.

Questioned by France 24 on this point, the European agency replies that its role is confined to controlling borders. "Frontex does not have the power to monitor national institutions," adds the agency's communication. However, it ensures "to ensure that respect for fundamental rights is ensured in all operations coordinated by Frontex".

With AFP