In clear violation of the Federation's refugee laws

Brutal treatment of migrants has normalized at the borders of the European Union

• Hundreds of newly arrived migrants walk towards temporary shelter shortly after crossing part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece.

  Reuters

• Johansson: The time has come to put in place a new monitoring mechanism for reports and verification of violations committed at European borders.

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A 2016 agreement between the European Union and Turkey, closing the Western Balkan corridor, curbed the large flow of Syrian refugees to Europe.

But the story didn't stop there.

Since those years, Europe's intransigence on the issue of mass migration to the member states of the European Union has led to control of the external borders of their countries through the use of force, violence, and violation of the law.

The EU's external border control apparatus is a mixture of extraordinary methods, designed to bypass the EU's external borders rules.

In fact, the European Commission has no idea what is going on.

Meanwhile, violence prevails at the external borders.

From dog chasing, beatings and torture, to expulsion after swift action, racial prejudice engraved in the culture of control and border guarding, all lead to the destruction of the supposed moral norms of European society.

The Europeans have a fleeting opportunity to do something better, as the European Commission mulls the possibility of establishing an independent border control mechanism.

But first we have to remind ourselves of why such a mechanism is necessary.

In 2016, Hungary had put in place a system of transit zones, which operate outside of European Union law.

Migrants and asylum seekers were hunted, returned to designated areas, withheld from them food, and in many cases they were expelled without resorting to legal procedures.

Allegations of organized and systematic violence and expulsion by the border police in Croatia recently emerged, following a complaint from within the border police regarding orders issued by their superiors to carry out illegal acts.

In March 2019, there were calls for the authorities to open an investigation into the case.

In the Mediterranean, the Italian and Maltese authorities violated the rules of international maritime law so severely that they ended up resorting to recruiting private fleets and people smugglers in their efforts to limit crossing the central Mediterranean.

Italy was supported by the European Union to establish a system of forced repatriation by proxy, and the Libyan coast guard forces supported the return of thousands of migrants from the coast of Libya, fleeing the ongoing war in this country.

Greece has been severely criticized this year for carrying out actions to expel thousands of refugees from its lands and maritime borders to Turkey.

The Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, described these allegations as "disinformation," but there is evidence and credible reports gathered by the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Systemic deficiency

The system, set up by the European Commission to assist member states in border control, and administered by Vortex, or the "European Coast Guard and Border Protection Agency", has faced systematic and repeated deficiencies in the necessary oversight.

According to the regulations, Vortex should be able to provide a true picture of what is happening in the field, but its system for transmitting information was not effective, according to human rights organizations.

In addition, the absence of this information, often, was considered evidence that there was not enough evidence.

Following the pressure on the issue, during a meeting in the European Parliament, the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Jelva Johansson, replied that the Commission did not have the authority to investigate allegations of violations committed at the external borders of the European Union.

But she added that the time has come "to consider whether we need to put in place a new mechanism for monitoring and verifying reports with regard to negative issues."

Indeed, this is really the right time.

On 23 September, UNHCR launched a proposal framework to reform the reception system for migrants and the asylum system.

If Johansson takes what she said seriously, a new border control mechanism, and all modifications related to judicial tools, could be created within this proposal.

Vortex cannot be part of the solution.

This agency failed to create an effective oversight system, while it was growing at a rapid pace and required a massive budget from the European Union.

This independent monitoring mechanism must be present in national institutions that currently exist, but which are truly independent, possessing the expertise and, in some cases, the mandate to carry out such investigations, and the commission can empower non-governmental investigators of grievances, and national prevention mechanisms against torture and ill-treatment. , Who are being held accountable directly by national parliaments, in order to shed light on violations of the law at European borders.

The demand for an independent monitoring mechanism may appear to be a minor or bureaucratic issue.

It cannot be a definitive solution to the crisis.

But my many years of reporting on violations have made clear to me that Europe needs a credible body to restore the rule of law.

It is not just a matter of recording violations or protecting human rights and holding the border police accountable, but rather stopping political abuse and arming asylum as a case for the European Union and other countries as a third party.

Europe will help redraw the democratic boundaries through which the executive branch exercises its power.

Contrary to conventional thinking, an effective, independent and well-planned monitoring mechanism will benefit EU member states, and will not act against their interests.

This crisis has prolonged more than it should be, so the Commission must stop deliberately ignoring what is happening on the parties of the Union.

It was time for Johansson to move.

Apostolis Futiades is a freelance journalist interested in refugee rights, ethnic conflicts, and population movement in the Balkans.

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- The system set up by the European Commission to assist member states in controlling borders, and which is administered by Vortex, or "the Coast Guard and European Border Protection Agency", has encountered systematic and repeated deficiencies in the necessary control.

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