After a dispute with pro-migrant politicians, NGOs and other EU officials who tried to stop him from strengthening the EU’s borders, the EU’s chief border officer has resigned.
Fabrice Leggeri (54), has resigned as the head of Frontex. Frontex is the bloc’s coastguard and border control agency.
It was under his strict management that it became the first EU uniformed agency to allow officers to have handguns, which were paid for by central budget.
He resigned writing: “It appears that the Frontex mandate upon which I was elected in June 2019 and renewed in June 2019, has been silently, but effective been modified.”
The results were the same as those of the probe into the illegal pushbacks of border guards in his possession to migrants trying reach Europe.
Fabrice Leggeri quit after a row with ‘pro-migrant politicians and NGOs’ who wanted to quash his attempts to strengthen the continent’s borders, it has been revealed
Crew members from the Abeille Languedoc ship help migrants after their boat’s generator stopped working in French waters. A little girl weeps as they rescue her.
Lighthouse Reports’ investigations revealed that Frontex has repelled 957 of the Aegean Sea asylum seekers between September 2021 and March 2020. Pictured: Afghan refugees off Lesbos’ coast
According to the rules, people shouldn’t be sent or returned from countries where they might risk their lives and safety.
Pushbacks — forcing would-be refugees away from a border before they can reach a country and claim asylum — are considered violations of international refugee protection agreements.
According to the rules, people cannot be returned or expulsed from countries where their lives and safety are in jeopardy because they belong to any social or political group.
Lighthouse Reports, an investigation group that examined Frontex’s activities in the Aegean Sea found at most 957 asylum seekers between September 2021 and March 2020.
An official told Le Figaro: ‘We expected this resignation. It was impossible to resist the pressure from pro-migrant politicians as well as NGOs in Brussels, which were leading the attack on the Leggeri line.
The source also said ‘Brussels did not look kindly’ on Frontex which receives a budget of €758million.
An estimated 19 Sub-Saharan migrants were saved off Andalusia’s coast on Sunday by rescuers.
A group of migrants are seen off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France, on Monday
Leggeri was the leader of Frontex from 2015 when more than a million refugees fled war-ravaged Syria to join the bloc.
Frenchman Leggeri had come under pressure from his French colleagues to resign. Leggeri had a track record of criticising campaigners and NGOs that support migrants.
In 2017, he stated that charity efforts to save migrants in Libya from exploitation should be reevaluated as it was encouraging traffickers and other criminals to seek more risky routes.
One day prior to his departure, media reports claimed that Frontex had recorded illegal pushbacks in its database as “prevention of depart” incidents. He had denied any wrongdoing previously.
The EU’s antifraud watchdog, OLAF opened an investigation into Frontex last year over claims of misconduct, harassment and migrant pushbacks. It closed the probe recently.
While it is not public, Erik Marquardt, German MEP said that it “reveals Frontex’s management was conscious of human rights violations but deliberately avoided reporting them”.
Maximilian Kall, spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry said that replacing Leggeri gives the agency a chance to make a fresh start.
Leggeri led Frontex as its leader since 2015. This was when over one million people, most of them Syrian refugees, had entered the bloc.
He stated that it offered the opportunity to resolve all allegations and create transparency, as well as ensuring that Frontex missions are in complete compliance with European law.
According to the Commission, Frontex fulfills an important mission to assist member states and manage common European Union borders. It also helps to protect fundamental rights.
Leggeri had been the head of Frontex since 2015. This was when over one million people, most of them Syrian refugees, joined the bloc.
A combined investigation conducted by Lighthouse Reports (Der Spiegel, SRF Rundschau), Republik und Le Monde this week revealed that Frontex participated in pushbacks for at least 957 asylees in the Aegean sea between March 2020 to September 2021.
The European Court of Human Rights, however, has ruled that migrants without documentation should receive information and care, as well as asylum applications processed.
European legislators have requested that a portion of Frontex’s budget be frozen in order to make improvements, such as establishing a mechanism to report serious incidents at the EU’s borders and setting up a system to monitor fundamental rights.
Birgit Sippel (home affairs spokesperson of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament) called Leggeri’s resignation ‘a long overdue event, after many years of continuous allegations of pushbacks and violation of human rights.