There were 346,004 illegal pushbacks of people migrating to Europe in 2023 - that is 947 every day. This figure is only the "tip of the iceberg" given the secrecy surrounding coastguard operations, according to human rights organisation 11.11.11.
A pushback is defined as an act that turns a person away from a border before they have the opportunity to apply for protection, and is illegal under European and international law. However, pushbacks are increasingly normalised at Europe's borders.
A report published by the organisation 11.11.11 used information provided by NGOs, human rights bodies and UN agencies to show that 346,004 illegal pushbacks occurred in 2023. Each case was counted (for example, if a group of 40 people were pushed back at the same time, that counts as 40 pushbacks) and if the same person experienced a pushback more than once, each incident was counted separately.
In addition, pushbacks performed by the Libyan coastguard were included given the extensive financial and material support supplied to the country by the EU.
The figures from 2023 represent a dramatic increase from the already record-breaking 225,533 in 2022. The rise comes despite the EU border agency Frontex's new director Hans Leijtens' promise to end "toxic environments in which pushbacks were allowed".
11.11.11 director Els Hertogen says the normalisation of pushbacks represents a "deadly, completely illegal policy."
EU (in)action
The report draws attention to the EU's failure to react appropriately to the situation despite concrete evidence of human rights violations at its borders. In May 2023, the New York Times secured footage of Greek authorities detaining a family in a van, then transporting them to a rubber dinghy where they were pushed out to sea.
In such a context, 11.11.11 says an independent monitoring mechanism at borders is essential. It laments the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum currently on the table and its failure to make adequate reference to such a mechanism.
The Pact in its current form mentions a monitoring system but this only applies to areas where migrants have already requested asylum, whereas the pushbacks prevent them from reaching this point.
"There is nothing in the current Pact that prevents these practices," migration specialist Flor Didden told De Standaard. "The control mechanism that should be put in place does not even serve the border areas where the pushbacks occur."
Posting on social media, Belgian Minister for Migration and Asylum Nicole De Moor (CD&V) responded to these arguments, insisting that the EU agreement is about "strengthening our external borders, not about pushbacks".
