Dear Hans Leijtens,

Yesterday you became the new Executive Director of Frontex.

Your agency has been embroiled in countless scandals involving attempts to cover up Frontex's involvement in countless violations of the human rights of people on the move. These scandals range from involvement in refoulements in the Aegean [1] and the exchange of Whatsapp messages with the so-called Libyan Coast Guard [2], to the manipulation of internal reports on human rights violations and 11 cases of false statements to the European Parliament [3].

At a press conference on 19 January, she stated that she was "not the kind of director who builds a fence around Frontex", but rather "wants to open the doors" and that "NGOs are welcome to give their information to Frontex" [4].

She went on to say that "we will rebuild trust, with great transparency about what we do and how we do it. We will work in accordance with the law and in accordance with the requirements of the Member States. There should be absolutely nothing to hide' [5].

We, civil society organisations involved in Search and Rescue (SAR), take this opportunity to ask you to keep your promises. We therefore ask you to answer the following questions.

Since 2015, civil society has tried to fill the gap left by the search and rescue authorities in the central Mediterranean. We have helped thousands of people reach Europe safely to exercise their right to seek asylum. In most cases, however, your agency refuses to recognise the rescue capabilities of NGOs and does not inform civilian SAR vessels of the presence of people in danger. On the contrary, your agency coordinates rejections directly with the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, even via Whatsapp messages [6], despite knowing full well that Libya is not a safe place.

Why don't you inform all actors at sea who are in the vicinity and able to carry out rescue operations in accordance with international law about cases of distress? What specific measures have you envisaged to ensure that civil society actors at sea are fully informed of vessels in distress in order to ensure safe and rapid rescue operations in accordance with international law and the law of the sea?

On 30 July 2021, the civilian rescue vessel 'Sea-Watch 3' and the civilian surveillance aircraft 'Seabird' witnessed an interception of people in distress in the Maltese SAR zone. As extensively analysed by Human Rights Watch and Border Forensics [7], the 'Heron' drone had detected the distress but never informed any civilian or private vessels operating in the area. The agency even refused to provide Sea-Watch with documentation of the incident [8]. Furthermore, Human Rights Watch and Border Forensics have shown that other interceptions that took place in the Libyan SAR area were likely facilitated by Frontex, despite the fact that the NGO vessels 'Nadir' (ResqShip), 'Ocean Viking' (SOS Méditerranée) and 'Sea-Watch 3' (Sea-Watch) were operating that day.

Can you confirm that Frontex used the 'Heron' drone on that day and detected cases of boats in distress, but did not inform any NGO vessels that were in the vicinity and ready to come to the rescue? Who took this decision and on what grounds? Do you believe that Frontex's actions on that day were in accordance with international law? Why did Frontex refuse to communicate in a transparent manner about this specific situation and in particular about the boat in distress that was then intercepted in the Maltese SAR zone? Is this refusal to provide information in line with the promise of transparency it made before taking office?

In December 2002, the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) filed a complaint with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, demonstrating that Frontex's cooperation with Libya in the interception at sea amounted to a crime against humanity [9].

Given Frontex's ongoing and deliberate contribution to human rights abuses in Libya, what investigations will it undertake to ensure that Frontex officials are no longer complicit in crimes against humanity?

It is widely documented that Libya is not a safe place for people on the move under international maritime law[10]. Frontex's involvement in human rights abuses is also widely documented[11]. On 19 January 2023, you declared that you were "responsible for ensuring that my agency does not engage in any form of refoulement"[12].

On the basis of this statement and your legal obligations under Art. 46, Regulation 2019/1896, when do you plan to end Frontex's current operations in the Central Mediterranean?

As search and rescue NGOs, we demand that your agency live up to the three 'guiding principles' you have stated: 'accountability, respect for fundamental rights and transparency'.

In order to live up to these principles and to respect the legal framework that governs your actions, your agency's first act should be to immediately cease Frontex's operations in the central Mediterranean.

NGOs involved in or supporting search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean:

Borderline-Europe

Boza fii (Benn kàddu – Benn yoon)

Civilfleet-Support

Leave No One Behind

Louise Michel

Mare*Go

Mediterranea Saving Humans

Mission Lifeline

Iuventa Crew

Open Arms

r42-sailtraining

ResQ – People Saving People

ResqShip

Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario

Sea-Eye

Sea Punks

Sea-Watch

Seebrücke – Schafft sichere Häfen

United4Rescue

Watch the Med – Alarm Phone

Hans Leijten, il nuovo Direttore Esecutivo di Frontex

fonte: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Leijtens.jpg

Note

[1] Natalie Allison, Bashar Deeb, Giorgos Christides, Klaas van Dijken, Katy Fallon, Ana França, Emmanuel Freudenthal, HeinerHoffmann, Daniel Howden, Steffen Lüdke, Mitra Nasar, Maximilian Popp, Nick Waters, Logan Williams, Phevos Simeonidis, FRONTEX CHAPTER II: COMPLICIT IN PUSHBACKS, Lighthouse Report, 23 October 2022;

Giorgos Christides, Steffen Lüdke, Frontex Involved in Illegal Pushbacks of Hundreds of Refugees, Der Spiegel, 28 April 2022.

[2] Matthias Monroy, WhatsApp to Libya: How Frontex uses a trick to circumvent international law, digit.36.net, 8 October 2021.

[3] Luisa Izuzquiza, Vera Deleja-Hotko, Arne Semsrott, Revealed: the OLAF report on Frontex, FragDenStaat, 13 October 2022.

[4] Emma Walls, New Frontex chief promises to ‚restore trust‘, Infomigrants, 20 January 2023.

[5] Olivia Bizot, New Frontex chief vows to end illegal pushbacks of migrants at border, Euronews, 19 Janaury 2023.

[6] Matthias Monroy, WhatsApp to Libya: How Frontex uses a trick to circumvent international law.

[7] Judith Sunderland, Lorenzo Pezzani, Airborne Complicity: Frontex aerial surveillance enables abuses, Human Rights Watch and Border Forensics, 8 December 2022.

[8] Sea-Watch, Sea-Watch takes Frontex to court, sea.watch.org, 28 April 2022.

[9] ECCHR, Executive Summary: Situation in Libya – Article 15 Communication to the ICC Prosecutor on the Commission of Crimes Against Migrants and Refugees: Interceptions at Sea and Return to and Detention in Libya are Crimes Against Humanity, 2022.

[10] See for instance: OHCHR, “Lethal Disregard” Search and rescue and the protection of migrants in the central Mediterranean Sea, maggio 2021.

The Independent Fact-FInding Mission on Libya stated that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity are being committed against migrants in Libya”: UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (Advanced Unedited Version), A/HRC/50/63, 27 June 2022.

[11] Judith Sunderland, Lorenzo Pezzani, Airborne Complicity: Frontex aerial surveillance enables abuses.

[12] Olivia Bizot, New Frontex chief vows to end illegal pushbacks of migrants at border.