EU border agency Frontex censured by MEPs over human rights abuse claims
The European Parliament on Tuesday refused to approve Frontex's 2020 accounts in the wake of claims of human rights abuse under its previous leadership.
Frontex is the EU agency with the biggest budget, totalling €754 million this year.
MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday voted against the border agency's discharge with a 345 to 284 votes margin.
The vote is largely symbolic and should not result in any penalty for Frontex.
It was a protest vote over the agency's previous management under Fabrice Leggeri, who stepped down in April following an investigation by the bloc's anti-fraud office. Complicit in pushbacks
An OLAF probe reportedly found that Frontex was complicit in illegal pushbacks of migrants by the Greek coast guard in 2020 and 2021.
The parliament said in a statement the vote was criticism of the "magnitude of the committed serious misconduct".
It said "the agency failed to protect the fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers and, according to media reports, was involved in the illegal pushbacks of at least 957 refugees between March 2020 and September 2021".
MEPs also expressed shock over the suicide of a staff member, “related to alleged practices of sexual...