(ANSA-AFP) - WARSAW, 27 OTT - Europe's border security agency
Frontex said Tuesday it had opened an internal inquiry over
media reports that it was involved in illegal "pushbacks" of
asylum seekers.
"We are looking into the accusations levelled by several news
organisations related to our activities at Greece's external
borders," agency chief Fabrice Leggeri said in a statement. But
the Warsaw-based agency said that "so far, no documents or other
materials have been found to substantiate any accusations of
violations". EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson also on
Tuesday told German public radio Deutschlandfunk that any
involvement in pushbacks would be "completely unacceptable".
"The director of Frontex must take full responsibility,
investigate these cases and present an answer to what really
happened," she said. "Pushbacks" are incidents where refugees or
asylum seekers are illegally returned across a border to a
country where they could face persecution. Several media
including Germany's Der Spiegel last week alleged that some
Frontex officials were implicated in pushbacks carried out by
Greek border guards at sea. (ANSA-AFP).
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