Caritas Europa has sent a letter to the European Ombudsman raising concerns on the functioning of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (FRONTEX) and its democratic control.

Caritas Europa strongly believes that the respect for Human Rights should be one of the main concerns of FRONTEX’s activities. Thus Caritas Europa has sent a letter to the European Ombudsman to stress the network’s serious concerns regarding FRONTEX’s way of running its activities. More specifically, Caritas Europa is worried about the following points:

1. The transparency of FRONTEX´s operations.
2. The compliance with the principle of non-refoulement.
3. Unclarities around the independent monitoring and complaint mechanism.

In the same time, Caritas Europa wants to stress that the network highly appreciates the dedication of FRONTEX in providing its staff the necessary training to cope with the pressures of meeting the agency’s obligations in respecting the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees.

In July this year, Caritas Europa became a member of the 1st term of FRONTEX's Consultative Forum, which has been set up by the agency as a part of its Fundamental Rights Strategy. During the next 3 years, as a member of the Forum, Caritas Europa will assist FRONTEX’s Executive Director and Management Board in Fundamental Rights matters.

“Our main expectation from the Consultative Forum is to establish a strong and real dialogue between Frontex and Civil Society. As a member of the Forum, Caritas Europa will work relentlessly to ensure that human rights of migrants and refugees are respected throughout the EU, especially in FRONTEX’s operations on or beyond its external borders.” says Caritas Europa Migration Officer, Karolina Babicka, who will be the network’s representative at the Consultative Forum.

“Caritas Europa’s election as a member of this very important Human Rights monitoring tools is a wonderful recognition of the work of thousands of Caritas people across Europe that are helping migrants and refugees on a daily basis,” says Caritas Europa Secretary General, Jorge Nuño Mayer.

Notes for editors:

What is FRONTEX?

FRONTEX is a European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders. It was created by a Regulation in 2004. Its main goal is to strengthen border security by ensuring the coordination of Member States’ actions in the implementation of Community measures relating to the management of the external borders. FRONTEX i.a. coordinates cooperation between Member States in the field of management of external borders and provides Member States with the necessary support in organising joint return operations.

The amended Regulation of FRONTEX from 2011 has, among others, asked FRONTEX to establish a Fundamental Rights Strategy and as a part of it to have a Consultative Forum to assist the Executive Director and the Management Board in Fundamental Rights matters.

Who is Caritas Europa

Caritas Europa is the network of 49 Caritas organisations in 46 countries across the European continent. The network is also one of the 7 regions of Caritas Internationalis, the biggest network of Catholic charities in the world devoted to reducing poverty and campaigning for social justice.

For more information, please contact:

Karolina Babicka

Policy and Advocacy Officer/ Migration and Asylum

kbabicka@caritas-europa.org +32 2 235 26 55