PALERMO. Sea Watch v. Frontex before the Court of the European Union (EuG), in Luxembourg. According to the German NGO, the Border Protection Agency has violated the duty of transparency regarding operations. The Sea watch in the lawsuit refers to the case of a push-back, “in violation of international law”, of 30 July 2021, which was witnessed by the Sea-Watch Seabird reconnaissance plane and the Sea-Watch 3 rescue ship. In the Maltese search and rescue area, a boat in distress carrying around 20 migrants was intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard and returned to Libya. The rescue ship “Sea-Watch 3” was the closest, but was not informed by any authorities. Maltese officials, says the NGO, “have failed in their duty to coordinate relief efforts and ensure that people in distress are taken to a safe place, as required by international maritime law and human rights”. Before the boat was intercepted, a drone – Frontex argues – “was repeatedly on the spot, so it must be assumed that Frontex was involved in the episode that violates international law”.
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fabio albanese
After a request based on the ordinance on freedom of information on the Frontex mission of 30 July 2021, the agency – claims Sea Watch – “has repeatedly refused to provide the requested information”. 73 documents, images and a video that refer to the date of the Sea-Watch application have been identified. But “only” 36 documents were provided on the exchange of communications between Frontex and the Libyan, Italian and Maltese authorities in relation to their mission in the central Mediterranean on 30 July 2021. With the support of the FragDenstaat organization, Sea-Watch therefore initiated an action against Frontex before the General Court of the European Union in order to obtain the disclosure of all information. “Frontex, using the argument of public safety, refuses to provide any information while at the same time people are being dragged back to a place where there is torture insecurity, in violation of international law,” says Marie Naass, Head of Advocacy of Sea-Watch. Frontex “is legally obliged to be transparent about its operations, yet – says Luisa Izuzquiza, head of FragDenstaat’s office in Brussels – the Border Protection Agency systematically denies access to information on its activities, in the central Mediterranean and elsewhere. “.