Alexander De Croo Prime Minister of Belgium Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU

 

Your excellency,

I am writing to draw your attention to the findings of my inquiry (OI/3/2023/MHZ) into how the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) complies with its fundamental rights obligations with regard to search and rescue in the context of its maritime surveillance activities.

As you may be aware, I launched this inquiry following the Adriana tragedy on 23 June 2023, when over 600 men, women and children lost their lives off the coast of Pylos, Greece. However, the broader context is that, over the past decade, an estimated 20 000 people have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea, trying to reach the EU, against a background of ongoing allegations and growing concerns about fundamental rights violations by authorities responsible for preventing such loss of life.

My inquiry identified a number of issues that Frontex itself should address, to ensure it can play a more proactive role in responding to maritime emergencies involving migrant boats. You can find my decision closing the inquiry attached to this letter.

However, there are also broader questions for the EU that were raised in the context of my inquiry and which I am calling on the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission to address. These are set out in the general conclusions accompanying my inquiry, which you will also find attached. In particular, they concern the absence of proactive EU search and rescue operations and the absence of a single EU-level accountability mechanism for assessing incidents involving alleged violations of fundamental rights and/or search and rescue obligations.

To address this, I believe there is a need to:

· establish an independent commission of inquiry to assess the reasons for the large numbers of deaths in the Mediterranean, to learn the lessons from incidents such as the Adriana shipwreck, and to make recommendations on how to protect fundamental rights and the right to life in the response to maritime emergencies;

· ensure EU-level consequences for any findings that a Member State authority has failed to comply with its fundamental rights and/or search and rescue obligations in regard to this incident and more generally; and

· reflect on changes to the legislation setting out Frontex’s mandate, which would enable it to play a more comprehensive and proactive search and rescue function.

The ongoing loss of life in the Mediterranean Sea is an indictment of the EU’s commitment to uphold this most fundamental of rights, and I trust you will treat this matter with the urgency it deserves.

Yours sincerely,

Emily O'Reilly

European Ombudsman

Strasbourg,26/02/2024

 

Enclosures:

Decision with annex

General conclusions