Scapegoat or symbol of the drift of European migration policy? In Brussels, opinions still diverge after the departure of the boss of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri. In the hot seat for two years, the 54-year-old French enarque finally resigned from his post at the head of the European border guard agency on April 29, after losing the confidence of his Board of directors.
Frontex, an agency criticized from all sides
His departure was applauded by NGOs defending migrants, the left in the European Parliament and by the media, such as the German weekly The mirror, whose investigations have questioned the work of the Warsaw-based institution. “The resignation of the director is a first step to put human rights on the agenda of the agency. It now needs fundamental changes in its structure and its culture”, tweeted the Dutch environmentalist Tineke Strik, very advanced. on this file.
Since October 2020, Frontex has regularly been accused of turning a blind eye to illegal pushbacks of migrants at the borders of the European Union. His director and his entourage are also criticized for their management of personnel, too authoritarian, too solitary, not respectful of procedures, while the agency is growing rapidly. Having become the largest in the European Union, it employs nearly 2,000 people and its annual budget is close to one billion euros.
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After criticism from the European Parliament, which has just refused to sign the discharge for the implementation of the agency’s 2020 budget, after those from the Court of Auditors of the Union, it is the investigations of the European body for fight against fraud (Olaf) which precipitated the fall of Fabrice Leggeri. According to those who have seen it, the report of several hundred pages – which has not been made public – overwhelms him. Olaf, usually specialized in financial fraud, has received testimonies of moral harassment within the institution. And above all, it also validates the grievances concerning the refoulements.
The mirror had access to certain photos of the investigation report. Taken by a Frontex plane, they precisely detail an incident in April 2020 during which the Greek coast guard pushed back migrants towards Turkish waters off the island of Lesbos. The executive director demanded accountability in writing from the Greek government, but went no further after the soothing response from Athens. His detractors believe that he should have alerted the officer responsible for respecting fundamental rights within the agency.
Questions about Frontex’s mission and mandate
The episode is actually symptomatic of the ambiguities surrounding Frontex’s missions. In the spring of 2020, we must remember that Athens accused Turkey of instrumentalizing migrants in a form of hybrid warfare. The Turkish regime had also facilitated the arrival of thousands of people in Evros, on the land border between the two countries. Fabrice Leggeri took the geopolitical context into account in his assessment of the Greek response. But for Olaf’s investigators, concern about respect for human rights should have prevailed. “Discreetly but effectively, a new narrative has been set up. It postulates that the core of Frontex’s mandate would be to monitor whether member states respect fundamental rights at their external borders”, deplores the former director in a letter to staff explaining his resignation.
What is Frontex used for? This is indeed the question that arises implicitly in this departure. At the political level, few have openly defended the outgoing director in recent days. But behind the scenes, the questions he asks are considered relevant. “Leggeri pays for his way of being and his governance, that does not mean that his message should not be taken into account,” said a diplomat.
In Europe, some worry that the European agency could become the “International Amnesty” of border guards. “We don’t want any refoulement, but the European border guards form a body of security, they are not there to do social work”, slice the entourage of a European minister. Henceforth, Frontex missions are systematically accompanied by independent monitors in charge of respect for rights. They notify all incidents they observe in the field. What discourage the capitals to call the European border guards to the rescue.
France, in its role as President of the Council of the European Union, has even proposed a mechanism which provides for the Member States to send each other mutual reinforcements without going through the Frontex box… “How do we want to reconcile a management and effective border control with the principle of non-refoulement?, asks German Christian Democrat Lena Düpont, who chairs the Frontex monitoring group in the European Parliament. and must respond alone, it is at the political level that a solution must be found.”
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The appointment of a new director may provide an opportunity for this clarification. “We need a clear doctrine, but we need to have a calm debate, not ideological, analyzes a European diplomat. Either there is a problem of framing the rules, or there is a problem of culture: we are not used to this kind of missions for the EU.” Traditionally, it is States that deploy armed men and women to defend their borders. However, in recent years, the 27 have invested a lot of money and political capital in the Frontex agency. Now it’s up to them to say what they want to do with it.
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