The EU’s Dirty Hands: Frontex Involvement in Ill-Treatment of Migrant Detainees in Greece

Since November 2010, Frontex, the EU's border agency, has deployed “guest officers” seconded from other EU member states, to assist Greece in patrolling its land borders. Migrants detained by patrols are transferred to detention centers in Greece where the conditions of detention are so poor that they are deemed inhuman and degrading.

© 2011 Associated Press

This report assesses Frontex’s role in and responsibility for exposing migrants to inhuman and degrading detention conditions during four months beginning late in 2010 when its first rapid border intervention team (RABIT) was apprehending migrants and taking them to police stations and migrant detention centers in Greece’s Evros region. The RABIT deployment has been replaced by a permanent Frontex presence. The report is based on interviews with 65 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Greece in November and December 2010 and February 2011, as well as with Frontex and Greek police officials.

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• The EU’s Dirty Hands
• Summary
• Key Recommendations
• Methodology and Scope
•  I. Background: Frontex
•  II. Protection Crisis in Greece
• III. Inhuman and Degrading Detention Conditions
• IV. Frontex’s Enforcement Role in Greece
• V. Frontex’s Responsibility for Exposing Migrants to Inhuman and Degrading Treatment
• VI. The Fragmentation of EU Responsibilities
• Recommendations
• Acknowledgements