Filenews 19 April 2021 - by Frixos Dalitis
At a time when the issue of informal migration is a central axis of public debate in Cyprus and more generally at European level, the role of Frontex is of paramount importance for European borders.
The case of Cyprus has its own peculiarities, as apart from the country of admission it is also a country under occupation, with the Government of the country stating the need to manage the massive flows to the territory of the Republic of Cyprus. Recently, he was in Cyprus and had a meeting with the Minister of the Interior, Nikos Nouris, the frontex representative Grigoris Apostolos, responsible for Greece and Cyprus. In the context of the meeting, the Minister of the Interior raised the need for further support for the Republic of Cyprus in the field of the return of third-country nationals to their countries of origin, noting that there appears to be a rapid increase in arrivals at this time reaching 1,216 for the month of March alone, while the requests of almost 19,000 people are still pending. Nikos Nouris requested Fontex's assistance in substantially strengthening the Returns Office in order to maximize its efficiency.
On the role of Frontex and how the Agency is acting to deal with the flows of informal migrants and the exploitation of human suffering by the various illegal trafficking rings, we asked for the views of the Agency's spokesman, Chris Borowski. "Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, is an essential part of Europe's efforts to safeguard the area of freedom, security and justice. Frontex's support at the external borders guarantees freedom of movement without internal border controls that many of us take for granted," he said, adding that this is a great responsibility and that is why the EU has strengthened Frontex, by providing it with an initial framework of Europe's services and resources to build its own equipment team and contribute to the development of Europe's integrated border management.
"Frontex has three strategic objectives: reducing the vulnerabilities of external borders on the basis of full awareness of the situation; guaranteeing security and at the same time protecting the proper functioning of the EU's borders and planning and maintaining the readiness of the European Border and Coast Guard.";
Referring to the importance of Frontex's role in protecting European borders from flows of informal migrants, especially for host countries, Chris Borowski said Frontex helps European countries in border control and migration issues. "We help with border surveillance and migration management activities, such as identifying migrants and identifying their country of origin. Our officers are also collecting information on criminal groups involved in people smuggling. In addition, last year Frontex helped return about one in five people who continued to remain in the EU illegally," he said, explaining that the Agency also places great emphasis on combating cross-border crime, such as people smuggling or human trafficking. "It is important to know that many migrants crossing the EU's external borders are victims of such forms of criminal activity."
Regarding the Cyprus case, he said Frontex has five officers and two interpreters working in Cyprus. Their tasks include supporting nationality control, fingerprinting, recording and checking migrant documents and preventing and detecting serious crime with a cross-border dimension.
Chris Borowski also notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected migration flows in some areas. "In April and May last year we saw a significant drop in cases of detection of illegal crossings that reached the lowest levels and which was largely due to national restrictions related to the pandemic. As a result of this decrease, 2020 saw the lowest number of irregular crossings since 2013. It is likely that if national restrictions are gradually lifted the numbers will increase. The long-term economic impact of COVID may also fuel additional migration movements."
It also explains how Frontex carries out "vulnerability assessments" of Europe's borders on an annual basis to find any weak points and proposes measures to address the situation. You also exchange information with the authorities of the affected State. It notes, however, that these cases cannot be made public for obvious reasons. "We don't really want criminal groups to have that kind of information," he says.
It is recalled that during the presence here of the Frontex representative in Greece and Cyprus it was mentioned on his behalf that the Agency's cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus in recent years has been extended and stressed the geometric progress made in asylum procedures. He noted that great strides have been made, in addition to forced, voluntary returns.
Grigoris Apostolos expressed Frontex's availability for further support and financing of returns, and assured that efforts would be made to strengthen the Republic of Cyprus with expert experts to address the increased needs that Cyprus faces.
Finally, it was agreed to arrange technical meetings between the competent bodies in order to speed up the procedures for launching a more efficient return system.
Safeguarding and protecting migrants' rights
The Agency's spokesperson, Chris Borowski, also referred to the particular importance the Agency places on the protection of the rights of migrants during European border controls and in cases of detection of violations of European borders. Frontex is fully committed to maintaining the highest standards of border control in our operations and is bound by a Code of Conduct. "This is the standard we follow in each of our functions. The presence of officers deployed by Frontex and its staff can actively contribute to minimising any potential risks of abuse of force, as well as providing an objective and reliable source of information on all circumstances on the ground. Officers deployed in Frontex operations are present to support member states and ensure the rule of law," he noted.
