ASGI expresses concern that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (“Frontex”) may implement collective push-backs of migrants intercepted in the Atlantic to Senegal.
In the latest annual report to the European Council and Parliament (for the year 2018, published on 21 February 2020), Frontex announces that it has included in the operational plan of the Hera mission the possibility of disembarking in Senegal foreign citizens intercepted at sea during naval and air patrol operations of the EU’s external borders. Senegal is the only third country where this possibility exists (point 2.4.2. of the report): during the other three naval operations of Frontex (Themis, Poseidon and Indalo, all active in the Mediterranean Sea) intercepted migrants are disembarked in member States most closely affected by the operations themselves (Italy, Greece and Spain respectively).
The Hera operation lasted from 16 August to 15 November 2018 and affected the geographical space between the Canary Islands and the Senegalese territorial waters, including both maritime and air space. The possibility of direct pushback is confirmed by the fact that Spain has conducted a study on the asylum and human rights protection system in Senegal, stating that the Senegalese authorities “are not involved in practices such as violations of fundamental rights or of the principle of non-refoulement”.
Although the report states that no migrants were pushed back to Senegal during the Hera mission, this does not make the scenario less problematic, since in the course of future missions Frontex could in fact proceed with delivering migrants intercepted at sea directly to the Senegalese authorities.
Clearly, this is yet another tile in the complex mosaic of policies aiming at externalizing borders and the right to asylum, with the sole purpose of limiting the number of migrants entering European soil, at the expense of the protection of migrants’ fundamental rights.
ASGI is currently investigating further Frontex’s involvement in such operations and will publish a document in the coming weeks.
Photo by Alessio Barbini
