Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.Vienna (dpa) – Human rights abuses on the European Union’s borders are under-investigated by national authorities, and “a sense of impunity prevails,” an EU report stated on Tuesday.
“There are very few national investigations of incidents resulting in the loss of life and alleged ill-treatment of migrants and refugees at borders,” the report by the Vienna-based EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) said. “Very few national court proceedings lead to convictions.”
Border protection is a fraught topic in the EU. Governments – particularly on the union’s eastern and southern frontiers – are under intense public pressure to reduce irregular migration and to stop unauthorised crossings at land and sea borders. But some campaign groups point to the hardships irregular migrants face and argue for them to be taken in.
The FRA report cites allegations of “physical violence, ill-treatment, failure to rescue people in distress, stripping people of their clothing, stealing and/or destroying their property, forced separation of families and summary expulsion of those seeking asylum.”
For instance, the report states that in 2022, Greek police on the island of Kos allegedly subjected two Palestinians to physical and sexual abuse before abandoning them on a life raft at sea, after which the pair were rescued by Turkish coastguards.
According to the FRA, victims are taking their cases to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights – which is not affiliated to the EU – because of the rarity of convictions in national courts.
The agency calls for national authorities to conduct “prompt and effective investigations,” to provide adequate evidence and to involve victims in those investigations. (30 July)
The editorial responsibility for the publication lies with dpa.