AFPA Frontex boat in Greece
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 17:48
Fiorella Opromolla
foreign editor
Miral de Bruijne
foreign editor
Fiorella Opromolla
foreign editor
Miral de Bruijne
foreign editor
The European border control agency Frontex is facing the European court in Luxembourg for the first time for the illegal return of refugees, the so-called ‘pushbacks’. A Syrian family, assisted by Dutch lawyers, filed a case against the EU agency. “Frontex has not treated us as human beings,” father Ali* tells NOS. The family is demanding compensation.
*Ali is a fictitious name, the family would like to remain anonymous. His real name is known to the editors.
Ali and his wife have four children, who were between the ages of 1 and 7 when the family fled. “War broke out and we didn’t want to take sides. We left our belongings and left,” says Ali. They first fled to northern Iraq, and then went to Europe via Turkey in 2016. “We wanted to create a future for our children. Our lives were destroyed, but we gave our children a future.”
The father says that they ran into problems at sea from Turkey on their way to Italy. “The boat started to rock and I went inside with my children. I thought our last days were numbered.”
Eventually help arrives, after which they are taken to the Greek island of Leros. There they hear that they will fly to Athens.
I looked around and saw the Turkish flag. I was shocked. We were back in Turkey.
Ali
Once at the airport, the family is separated. The children, including the son who is still being breastfed, are also separated from his mother. There is a lot of security and talking is not allowed, says Ali. Once they arrive, they don’t know what they see. “I looked around and saw the Turkish flag. I was in shock. We were back in Turkey.”
The family then has to go to a relief camp. They try one more time to leave Turkey, but fail. Fearing being sent back to Syria, they head back to northern Iraq.
Frontex has long been accused of illegally returning migrants when they try to reach the European Union. The agency would overlook and even cooperate with those pushbacks, for example from Greece to Turkey. This is often accompanied by violence.
The European fraud watchdog OLAF published a critical report on Frontex last year, which showed, among other things, that senior officials within the agency kept the pushbacks secret. The then director resigned.
The NOS has asked Frontex for a reaction to this case. Frontex has announced that it will not comment substantively on current matters.
This case is unique, says Myrthe Wijnkoop, migration law expert at the Clingendael Institute. “Most victims of pushbacks no longer reside in Europe, but in neighboring countries or in transit countries. So contacts with legal assistance or organizations that can help the family are not easy to establish.” In addition, it is complex to sue Frontex. “Initiating proceedings at the court in Luxembourg is very complicated. There are very high proof thresholds.”
Lawyer Lisa-Marie Komp represents the family. “Frontex is obliged to monitor compliance with human rights on all missions where they support member states. They have not done that, because they have brought people back to Turkey together with Greece. You cannot just pick people off the street and bring them back to a another country. A judge should rule on deportation.”
Refugees arriving in the European Union have the right to apply for asylum. This family did too. Komp: “Then such an application should be processed. In this case it was plausible that they would be granted asylum and would have been allowed to stay in Greece. But that did not happen.”
“This case is bigger than this family. We have read more messages about pushbacks in recent years and many people have fallen victim to it. It is important that the court determines that Frontex must comply with the rules,” says Komp.
Laws are being broken and we are the victims of it.
Ali
The family now lives in northern Iraq again, still hoping for a life in Europe. Ali: “I wanted to take my children to a safe place to have a better life than the one we have now. But that didn’t happen, because there are people who have not followed the rules. The agencies that deal with refugees should be checked, but that is not happening. Laws are being broken and we are the victims of that.”
The European court is expected to rule within a few months.
:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/FDCWM2MR75FKHI2DFZC364DORM.jpg)
:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/QXKYJ3VV5NGWXPFYXXDAHWTFFA.jpg)
