Frontex accused of mistreating immigrants

Published on 22 September 2011 at 12:54

Created six years ago to strengthen EU border control, Frontex is now targeted by human rights organisations for mistreatment of illegal immigrants in its detention centers, Lisbon daily i writes. According to a report based on conditions provided by detention facilities for immigrants in Greece, published September 21 by Human Rights Watch, Frontex activities fail to comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. At the immigrants’ holding center of Fylakio, Greece, for example, unaccompanied children are placed in cells overcrowded with adults, where the smell is excruciating and guards enter passageways wearing surgical masks. “It is a distressing contradiction that, while the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) clearly rules that the transfer of migrants to Greek detention centres violates their fundamental rights, Frontex - an executive agency of the EU - is knowingly sending them there”, explains Bill Frelick, manager of the Refugee Program of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

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