The EU Commission announced plans to significantly strengthen Frontex, tripling its staff, following a sequence of intensifying restrictive anti-migration and border control policies. This was already foreseen in the political guidelines by Von der Leyden, published in July 2024.
Operational since 2005, this year Frontex celebrates 20 years of managing EU’s external borders and fighting against cross-border crime. However, its mandate has not been free of controversy, with many cases and NGOs reporting human rights violations and increased securitization of EU borders. For sure also EUMS play a role here.
In March, Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen promised to review Frontex’s mandate until 2026 to boost its role in returns, supporting the implementation of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact. Since then, the Commission has already unveiled new EU return rules under the Common European System for Returns – read further here.
On 1 April, the Commission called to increase the count of Frontex from 10.000 to 30.000 staff. The strategy document presented focused mainly on hybrid attacks, cybercrime, organised crime and terror threats. Under the Commission’s plan, Frontex and Europol would be given greater access to data. These plans have been raising some concerns related to data management, privacy as well as fundamental rights protections.
With Europol and Frontex gaining more role, including for the return of potential victims of trafficking, La Strada International has been raising critical questions about Frontex’s application and enforcement of fundamental rights during its operations, especially in the identification and protection of trafficking victims. Adequate victim identification is pivotal in ensuring that individuals receive the necessary protection.
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