EU border agency head resigns after scandal on illegal pushbacks: Reports

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The EU border agency chief has stepped down after a probe into the agency’s involvement in illegal pushbacks, multiple news outlets reported on Friday.

The resignation of Fabrice Leggeri, Frontex executive director, comes after another joint investigation of prestigious European media outlets revealed that despite public denial, the EU border agency was involved in illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers in the Aegean Sea, according to their own database.

Politico, Der Spiegel and Lighthouse Reports reported that Leggeri has tendered his resignation and communicated his decision to the board of management of the agency.

The EU’s anti-fraud watchdog Olaf is expected to publish its report on the misgivings around the management of Frontex.

Another Olaf report – which has not been shared with the wider public due to the sensitivity of the information, according to an EU official speaking on condition of anonymity to Anadolu Agency – has also confirmed Frontex’s involvement in pushbacks.

According to the source, Leggeri and other top officials were also aware of the illegal activity but tried to cover it up.

A joint investigation carried out by France’s Le Monde newspaper, German weekly Der Spiegel, Swiss news outlets SRF Rundschau and Republik, and Netherlands-based Lighthouse Reports revealed on Thursday that Frontex was involved in 22 pushbacks between March 2020 and September 2021.

The EU agency recorded the incidents – in which at least 957 asylum seekers were taken off dinghies, put into Greek life rafts and left adrift at sea – as “prevention of departure,” the investigation underlined.

Since 2015, human rights organizations and leading media outlets have frequently reported illegal pushbacks and other human rights breaches of Greek authorities, as well as Frontex’s complicity in these acts violating EU and international law as well.