The EU’s border agency has been involved in the pushbacks of at least 957 asylum seekers in the Aegean Sea between March 2020 and September 2021, according to a new investigation. This case was later recorded in the Frontex database as a “prevention of departure”. The fresh allegations against Frontex come before a 15 May referendum in Switzerland on the country’s involvement with the EU border agency. Migrants protest against pushbacks at the border with Turkey, near the Greek parliament in Athens on 20 February 2022. “A fundamental change in the culture” of the EU border agency was needed, she said, including a change of leadership, because Leggeri has “lost credibility in taking fundamental rights seriously”.

Source: The Guardian April 28, 2022 17:20 UTC