NGO rescue missions in the Mediterranean 'not a pull factor' for migrants, Frontex chief says

Irregular crossing of EU borders has decreased by over a third in 2024 so far.

Transcript

00:00Ships of non-governmental organizations rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean Sea do not encourage

00:09departures, the director of the European Coast Guard and Border Guard, Frontex, tells Euronews.

00:15You've never heard me saying that it's a pull factor, so that's what my opinion is.

00:22So your opinion is that they are not a pull factor?

00:25I never said and it's not my opinion that it's a pull factor.

00:29Leighton's position is in stark contrast to that of a confidential agency document

00:34on migration routes from Libya to Europe, never made public but reported in the press in November 2022.

00:42It has been cited repeatedly by the Italian government in its attempts to criticize the activities of NGOs.

00:49Leighton's director of Frontex since 2023 updated the European Parliament on the agency's activities on Wednesday.

00:56Several MEPs who spoke at the hearing noted that he seems to devote more attention to respecting

01:01the fundamental rights of migrants than his predecessor.

01:05First you save lives at land and at sea, but it depends also on the resources what you can do.

01:11But at least we promise always, again all these officers took the oath somewhere in their career

01:16and they promised to serve and protect, so we do. That's always number one.

01:21In the first seven months of 2024, irregular crossings of European borders decreased by 36%,

01:28mainly due to a decline in traffic on the Balkan and Central Mediterranean routes.

01:32On the other hand, landings on the Canary Islands more than doubled

01:36and entries from Belarus to the Baltic countries almost tripled.