CHAPTER 6. Priorities of work for 2023

Reinforcing The Team

◆ Continuous training and field experience to ensure that Monitors understand the operational reality.

◆ Solidify efficient use of all staff to ensure the best possible monitoring and advice.

ENHANCE TRACKING AND FOLLOW-UP

◆ Reinforced work on the Fundamental Rights Action Plan – within Frontex and support to Member States.

◆ Follow up to the advice and opinions provided to the Management Board and the Agency.

◆ Systematic tracking of response and action by national authorities in relation to Serious Incident Reports in particular.

Bringing Tools Further Together

◆ Reinforce established processes: serious incident reporting, complaints mechanism, and the Consultative Forum.

◆ ETIAS Fundamental Rights Guidance Board, Use of force reporting and explore the establishment of an advisory body on return monitoring.

◆ Roll out and leaning of reporting tools for forced return and general monitoring.

◆ Explore quality certification for impact.

◆ Prepare for 2024 evaluation of fundamental rights framework.

Annex I

Complaints Mechanism

Annual Reports by the Fundamental Rights Officer shall include information on the complaints mechanism (EBCG Regulation Article 109(4) and 111(9)), including details on the findings and the follow-up to complaints by the Agency and national authorities.

In 2022, the Fundamental Rights Officer closed two admissible complaints, as summarised below. Other admissible complaints were pending and not ready for closure in 2022.

Complaint No. 2020-00013 and Complaint No. 2020-00024

Both complaints concerned the registration of unaccompanied children as adults in the Moria reception and identification centre, despite the complainants claiming to be underage. Consequently, no appropriate measures were taken by the competent authorities to ensure the protection, care, and representation of the complainants as minors in line with the principle of the best interests of the child. Later in the age assessment procedures it was confirmed that the complainants were minors at the time of their registration.

In both complaints the Hellenic authorities responded that during the registration of the complainants standard operating procedures were followed.

Without prejudice to these conclusions, the Fundamental Rights Officer recommended that undocumented persons claiming to be minors should be treated as such and referred to the competent authorities for proper assistance, irrespective if the declared age raised doubts.

The Fundamental Rights Officer also recommended that the instructions regarding the registration of unaccompanied children must be in line with all applicable legal provisions and that in the opposite case participants in the Agency’s activities are obliged to report a possible violation of fundamental rights as a serious incident.

Furthermore, the Agency’s Executive Director tasked competent staff to ensure the implementation of the Fundamental Rights Officer’s recommendations regarding correct procedure in protection of unaccompanied children during registration and screening process, as well as to ensure that those recommendations are reflected in the Agency’s future training activities.