In October 2004, the European Agency for the Management of Operation Cooperation at the External Borders (better known as FRONTEX) was established. At first, it was supposedly intended to ‘support’ the efforts of national authorities in controlling the EU’s external borders.
It marked the real death of freedom of movement, and the consolidation of Europe into a fortress.
Then three years later, it got even worse. With the RABIT regulation in 2007, Frontex was allowed to temporarily deploy ‘Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RABIT) to EU member states. Then, in 2011, they set up European Border Guard Teams which were permanent. In 2015, and then again 2016, their powers expanded and expanded – to include data analysis, surveillance, risk assessing, signalling new threats.
They use this ‘risk assessment procedure’ to control narratives and leverage people’s perceptions of people on the move, recommending the EU to respond to supposedly increasing ‘risks’ and exacerbating the racist and fascist narratives that migration is a ‘threat’.
They are also the only EU institution with armed personnel, and also the agency with the largest budget. Since their establishment, they have received 5523.8 million euros of taxpayer money to enact their violence, pushbacks, and human rights abuses.
In 2021, a Guardian investigation revealed Frontex complicity in almost 40,000 cases of pushbacks, and 2000 deaths. In one testimony we collected recently, Ahmed described the way he was beaten and pushed back by Frontex officers working alongside Serbian police officers, telling NNK:
“We will not forgive the guys who treat us like [not humans]. The grudge for the Serbian Police and Frontex will stay in our hearts.”
Frontex is the cornerstone of the European deterrance regime: a border regime which relies on the mass violation of human rights and the right to asylum to appease fascist and populist agendas. Frontex has blood on its hands.
At its core, Frontex represents a system of global apartheid which sacrifices lives and rights for in response to a ‘threat’ of migration – a threat they have inflated as fast as their budget inflates.
