#eu borders

Biometrics to Replace Passport Stamps at EU Borders in October Starting in October 2025, travelers entering and exiting the European Union will no longer receive traditional passport stamps. Instead, a new digital border system will record biometric data as part of the EU’s long-anticipated Entry/Exit System (EES) rollout. The EES is designed to modernize border control procedures across the…

Controversial Call for Physical Barriers at EU Borders A coalition of right-wing lawmakers within the European Parliament has ignited a heated debate by advocating for the construction of physical barriers along the European Union’s borders. This proposal emerged amidst discussions regarding the budget for the upcoming year, prompting significant backlash from centrist and socialist factions…

The 27 leaders of the European Union gave their most explicit endorsement yet on Thursday to the contentious initiative of outsourcing migration policy. Despite this significant political backing, the leaders provided minimal details on how the proposed strategies would be implemented and how authorities could ensure the protection of human rights while transferring migrants outside the bloc’s…

Authorities in EU member states are not doing enough to investigate credible reports of violations of human rights, including deaths, on their borders, an EU human rights body has said. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) said human rights agencies and NGOs were reporting “serious, recurrent and widespread rights violations against migrants and refugees during border management” but despite “credible” reports many were not investigated. An increasing number of cases are going to the European court of human rights, raising questions about border management in at least three countries, it said. “National authorities in Greece, Croatia and Hungary did not effectively investigate incidents of ill treatment and loss of life during border management. “Examples include insufficient efforts to locate and hear victims and witnesses, hindering lawyers in their work and not having access to key evidence (eg footage from border surveillance).” Greece’s migration policies have been in the spotlight since the Adriana, an overcrowded fishing boat, sank in June last year with the loss of an estimated 500-650 lives. The FRA cited five examples highlighting what it considered a flawed approach to loss of life and allegations of violence across Europe’s frontier states. In one of the most egregious cases, it cited the discovery of an unaccompanied child who was found unconscious with a fractured skull and swollen lip in France by volunteers. The child had been apprehended by police after hiding in a truck destined for the UK. The case, and allegations of possible police involvement, was reported to the public prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer but the child could not be found later. In 2020, the Croatian police intercepted four Afghans who entered the country irregularly. According to the rights agency, they were held for two days, humiliated and beaten. The incident is being investigated but according to the victims’ lawyer the perpetrators have not been identified. In April 2020, Maltese authorities instructed a fishing vessel to take a boat in distress back to Libya. In six days at sea 12 people died or went missing. A magistrate concluded there was no prima facie evidence for criminal charges, the FRA said. In June 2022, two Palestinians recognised by Greece as refugees were allegedly subjected to physical and sexual abuse and abandoned on a life raft at sea after being stopped by police in Kos. The Turkish coastguard rescued them and an official complaint is still pending before the Greek public prosecutor.

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