“Nothing can stop people from crossing a border”
Hans Leijtens has been Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Frontex since March 2023
Source: Virginia Mayo/AP/dpa
While the EU and its member states are tightening their measures against irregular entries, Hans Leijtens, head of the EU border protection authority, advocates humane treatment of migrants. His predecessor stood for a different course.
DThe Executive Director of the EU border protection agency Frontex has expressed his opposition to efforts to better protect the EU’s external border. “To be clear: Nothing can stop people from crossing a border, no wall, no fence, no sea, no river,” said Hans Leijtens in an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG.
The Dutchman, in office since March last year, explained that the only thing that could be done is to slow down the flow of people into the EU and control it better. Recently there have been increasing demands from politicians for better external border protection.
Sometimes, says Leijtens, it is acted as if “you can simply put a lid on the top of the bottle and then the migration will be stopped. But that is a misconception.” The Frontex boss also said with regard to the debates on migration: “This talk of ‘stopping people’ and ‘closing borders’ cannot be our narrative all the time. My job is to create a balance between effective border management and compliance with fundamental rights.”
Instead of continuing to rely on border security measures, Leijtens advocated asylum procedures directly at the external border, rapid deportations of rejected asylum seekers and agreements with third countries that include, for example, joint police investigations into human smuggling networks.
As part of this joint research by WELT AM SONNTAG, POLITICO and Onet, all of which belong to Axel Springer Verlag, Leijten’s predecessor as Frontex boss, Fabrice Leggeri, also commented. The Frenchman resigned in April 2022 due to allegations of turning a blind eye to human rights violations and mismanagement.
He said: “I have always tried to defend the interests of the EU and all Schengen states, to support the national authorities, to fight crime and terrorism.” He did not admit any mistakes. From his point of view, a political change is to blame for his personal decline.
He reported on a conversation with EU Migration Commissioner Ylva Johansson in October 2019: “By then, the Commission wanted us to develop the Standing Corps quickly. But then the commissioner asked me: What do you need it for? The migrants are welcome. So what do we need weapons and uniforms for?” A spokesman for Johansson declined to comment on this alleged conversation.
