Frontex

In the first seven months of this year, record levels of illegal crossings at EU borders were reported, DPA reported, citing the Union's border agency - Frontex.

European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly on Wednesday opened an own-initiative inquiry aimed at clarifying the role of Frontex, the European border control agency, in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea following the drowning of hundreds of people in international waters off the coast of Greece on June 14. 

The European Union's official watchdog said Wednesday it has opened a probe in the role of the bloc's Frontex border agency in the shipwreck off Greece last month that is feared to have killed hundreds of people in the Mediterranean Sea.

Migrant crossings in unseaworthy boats organzied by human traffickers from Northern Africa have spiked this year, with massive losses of life.

Greece's new minister for migration said Monday he would consider it "unthinkable" for the European Union to pull out its border protection force from the country, and promised to address a growing list of international grievances over dealing with migrants.

The European Union's border agency is seeking "clarifications and information" from Greece's coast guard on two alleged cases of migrants who crossed by boat being illegally deported back to Turkey, a European official said Friday.

Ljubljana – Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina has met Greek counterpart Andreas I. Pottakis, who heads Europe’s section at the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), as part of hos visit to Slovenia. Pottakis has also been received by President Borut Pahor, Svetina’s office said in a press release on Wednesday.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Bulgaria has blocked about 50,000 IP addresses and 500 domains from Russia and Belarus, from which hacker attacks were attempted. This was announced by Deputy Interior Minister Tanya Raycheva during an informal meeting of the Council "Justice and Internal Affairs".

On November 17 last year, when Hervé Yves Caniard entered the 14-floor conference room of the European Union border agency Frontex in Warsaw, European newspapers were flooded with stories of refugees a few hundreds kilometres away, braving the cold at the Belarusian border with Poland.

Turkish Coast Guard teams have rescued 77 irregular migrants pushed back by Greek authorities in two separate operations conducted off the western province of İzmir's Dikili district on June 8.

The first team patrolled the Dikili coasts upon notifications that some migrants on a dinghy were floating on the sea.

Asylum seekers wait with their belongings as refugees and migrants from the destroyed Moria camp wait to enter a new camp on Lesbos island, 17 September 2020. Photo by EPA-EFE/VANGELIS PAPANTONIS