[Blog from FragDenStaat] In April, the EU Parliament told Frontex to drop their demand against us for the payment of € 10,520 in legal fees. The EU border force has chosen to disregard EU Members of Parliament – again. EU border police force Frontex has reinstated its demand we pay € 10,520.76 in legal fees, …
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Frontex: 16 years of a humanitarian and political disaster
Sunday 3 October 2021 marks the anniversary of the death of over 360 people on the move, during a shipwreck off Lampedusa in 2013, and as such is a day of commemoration. Also on this day, in 2005, the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex started operating in the Polish capital Warsaw. This is …
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Defund Frontex, Build a European Search and Rescue Programme
Over the past 15 years, border police force Frontex has grown to become the EU’s most powerful agency. With a budget of € 5.6 billion and an army of 10,000 border guards due by 2027, Frontex is the key actor in implementing – as well as advancing – Fortress Europe’s deadly policies. During this 15-year …
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Frontex awards €84.5 million in aerial surveillance contracts
At the beginning of August the EU published two new contract award notices for aerial surveillance services for Frontex, worth €84.5 million. Some of the companies that were contracted have already been performing surveillance flights in the Mediterranean and elsewhere for Frontex for years now. With this they contribute to the system of increasingly militarised …
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Frontex Scrutiny Working Group leaves Frontex off the hook
The ‘Report on the fact-finding investigation on Frontex concerning alleged fundamental rights violations‘ presented by the Frontex Scrutiny Working Group (FSWG) in the European Parliament yesterday is a disappointing document: It mostly lets Frontex off the hook, ignores the core problems of Frontex’s mandate and the EU’s militarised border policies it is part of, and …
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European Parliament votes on Integrated Border Management Fund
On Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 July the European Parliament will debate and vote on the Integrated Border Management Fund (IBMF), a new instrument to strengthen member states’ border security capacities and visa policies. The €6.24 billion available for 2021-2027 will be spend on “the strengthening of European integrated border management, the purchase of border …
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Action day 20 June: the movement to abolish Frontex is growing
Next day of action: World Refugee Day – 20 June
After the campaign launch with actions in 8 countries on 9 June, there has been a callout to bring the campaign to the streets again on Sunday 20 June, World Refugee Day. Join actions on this day to to bring attention to the EU’s border regime and Frontex’ key role in it.
Firearms for Frontex
Frontex is building its own Standing Border Guard Corps to work on border security, border control and deportations. This should be 10,000 persons strong by 2027, though recruitment and training is lagging behind. Frontex wants this corps to be armed, and is in the process of purchasing firearms, but the legal grounds for this are …