BRUSSELS, 22nd October, 2026 (WAM) -- The migration crisis put human rights at the bloc’s external borders to the test, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights warned in a report Thursday.
The warning comes as the European Commission prepares to introduce a framework for responding to migration emergencies before the end of the year, according to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has called for “time-limited and strictly defined flexibility in standard procedures.”
In its report, the agency said any emergency measure should comply with EU and international law, both of which guarantee the right to seek asylum and the principle of non-refoulement — a “cornerstone of refugee protection,” it added.
The agency’s report also highlighted other fundamental rights concerns at the EU’s external borders, including the implementation of rights-monitoring mechanisms as part of migration reforms, restrictions on search and rescue organisations, and investigations into rights violations at the borders.
According to the agency’s numbers, 12 EU countries opened 322 preliminary criminal investigations between 2020 and 2025, but only nine of those resulted in a conviction.
Gaps in those investigations “lead to a perception of impunity, which risks undermining the rule of law, one of the fundamental values on which the Union is founded,” the report stated.