Illegal EU pushbacks linked to 2,000 refugee deaths
Following border closures due to COVID-19, EU nations have paid non-EU states and enlisted private vessels to intercept boats in distress at sea and push back passengers to detention centers
By Lorenzo Tondo / The Guardian
EU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders during the COVID-19 pandemic, linked to the death of more than 2,000 people, the Guardian can reveal.
In one of the biggest mass expulsions in decades, European nations, supported by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, or Frontex, systematically pushed back refugees, including children fleeing from wars, in their thousands, using illegal tactics ranging from assault to brutality during detention or transportation.