Mary Khan, MEP for the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD), has said European Union policies that block Europe’s border agency Frontex from sharing data on people smugglers with the police are “absurd”.
The European migration policy needs “a complete overhaul”, she said after news outlet Euractiv reported yesterday that Frontex is not allowed to share intelligence on smuggling networks gathered from migrant interviews with police, citing EU “fundamental rights” concerns.
In a response to Brussels Signal, Khan, a member of the Europe of Sovereign Nations Group, said: “These revelations expose the absurdity of the EU’s approach to migration: Self-inflicted ‘fundamental rights’ constraints are routinely abused to obstruct the deportation of illegal migrants.
“Now it is clear that this is also being used to obstruct action against human traffickers. While criminal networks exploit our borders, Brussels is handcuffed with its own bureaucracy instead of protecting our citizens,” she added.
“It’s clear that we need a complete overhaul: Fewer EU constraints, stronger national authority and a migration policy that puts Europeans first.”
Charlie Weimers, MEP for the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) said that “EU ‘Fundamental rights’ officers are prioritising illegal migrants’ ‘freedom of movement’ over European security.”
“Illegal entrants have only one freedom: the freedom to return to their home country.
“Frontex must be given the green light to share all data on smugglers and irregular migrants with police without bureaucratic obstruction or delay.”
Officers of Frontex regularly interview illegal migrants, screening them and receiving important information on people smuggles, mobiles phones, locations where they stayed before embarking to Europe and so forth.
EU member state’s police could use this information to tackle illegal migration routes, stop boats before they make the perilous trip across the Mediterranean and tackle the criminal networks behind it all, often also connected with the drugs trade and other illegal activities.
But the European border agency does not share this data, which is being acquired by anonymous, voluntary interviews.
Frontex used to share this, but in 2024 the European Data Protection Supervisor ruled against sharing this data, causing “fundamental rights officers” to oversee the collected data and restricting transmission.
