By 
Megan Howlett-Farmer
Federico Abis, May 5, 2023
EU Border Agency FRONTEX has asserted that they are currently investigating twelve potential human rights abuses resulting from the illegal expulsion of migrants at the Greek border.
As the question of migration emerges as a volatile element on Europe’s policy agenda, Greece (a key gateway to the EU) has found itself in the eye of a growing storm concerning its treatment and pushback of asylum seekers and migrants arriving at its borders. At the core of this controversy are pushbacks – the illegal expulsion of migrants at a nation’s borders without justly assessing their claims to asylum. Greece has long been the subject of accusations for engaging with these practices, both at sea and along its land border with Turkey, which have been met with fervent denial by Greek authorities.
This has culminated in the EU Border Agency FRONTEX taking a firm stance on these practices, with spokesperson Chris Borowski announcing that the agency will look into “12 active serious incident reports related to Greece”. The agency has long supported Greek operations under Operation Poseidon, whose primary functions have consisted of performing border surveillance, assisting in the identification and registration of incoming migrants, as well as debriefing and screening. FRONTEX itself has faced fierce criticism for its potential complicity in the practices of pushbacks in Greece, with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture requesting details from the Greek government regarding how human rights are safeguarded and monitored during the Operation.
FRONTEX now finds itself unable to sit in silence as accusations relating to alleged forced removals of thousands of people by Greek migration officials at land borders proliferate. This, however, is not the first indication of a strained relationship between the company and the state. FRONTEX Fundamental Rights Officer Jonas Grimheden has previously recommended the temporary suspension of the agency’s operations in Greece in 2023, following the sinking of a fishing boat off the coast of Greece’s southern peninsula, a disaster thought to have caused hundreds of migrants to die at sea. The boat was attempting to reach Europe from Libya. Despite repeated pressure from FRONTEX, the Hellenic coast guard adamantly refused to undertake an independent investigation.
The human cost of these alleged practices is staggering and has increasingly been investigated, covered, and published by civil society organisations and NGOs. In 2021, Amnesty International called upon FRONTEX to suspend or withdraw its Greek operations after finding evidence that Greek border forces were illegally detaining and summarily returning migrants from Turkey, in flagrant violation of its obligations under human rights law, both at the EU and international level. The repeated accusations by rights campaigners that Greek coastguards had been illegally forcing migrants to return to Turkey also triggered a visit by Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur for rights defenders, in 2022. The findings of her visit exposed an atmosphere of intimidation and insecurity amongst human rights defenders, who are actively dissuaded from discussing the realities of migration policy in Greece.
Fortunately, 2025 appears to be an optimistic year for the visibility and accountability of these practices. January saw the European Court of Human Rights confirm the systematic nature of pushbacks of third-country nationals from Greece to Turkey, with the judges recognising that unlawful detention prior to the pushback constitutes a form of enforced disappearance. The judgment illustrated the broader systemic issue of summary expulsion practices in Greece and the marked absence of effective legal remedies for those subjected to these practices.
FRONTEX’s inquiry into the “serious incident reports related to Greece” strengthens the visibility and credibility of the issue. Unlike legal bodies or NGOs, which may be perceived as more detached, FRONTEX’s on-site presence offers real-time oversight and direct engagement with the events as they unfold. Moreover, the FRONTEX spokesperson has warned Greece that a failure to prevent future human rights violations may result in the company withdrawing financing for patrol activities in the future. This development is representative of a hugely positive step towards corporate responsibility for migration activities in the Mediterranean, with FRONTEX asserting that their policy of engagement with member states has changed, and the company insisting on high standards of conduct before supplying resources.
Sources and Further Readings:
UN expert condemns Greek ‘criminalization’ of migrants
Greece: Pushbacks and violence against refugees and migrants are de facto border policy
Greece’s systematic pushback practice confirmed by European Court of Human Rights
EU border agency investigates Greece over alleged migrant rights violations
Frontex examines fresh pushback allegations against Greek government
EU border agency threatens to slash Greek funding amid alleged illegal pushbacks of migrants
EU Border Agency Checking Alleged Refugee Pushbacks in Greece
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