FRA highlights ongoing human rights concerns at EU borders in 2025 Report
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has released its 2025 Fundamental Rights Report, offering a detailed overview of key developments in the EU’s human rights landscape. Among the areas of concern, the report draws particular attention to migration and asylum at the EU’s external borders, where challenges continue to raise fundamental rights issues.
The main concerns identified in this context include:
- the continued loss of life and disappearances at sea, raising serious concerns about the right to life and the lack of adequate search and rescue capacities;
- credible reports of mistreatment and unlawful pushbacks by border officials, alongside ineffective investigations into such violations, which undermine the prohibition of ill-treatment and the right to an effective remedy;
- the introduction of accelerated border procedures under the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, which may compromise procedural safeguards and the right to a fair and individual assessment of asylum claims;
- recent proposals aimed at strengthening return policies, including through the use of return hubs in third countries, which risk undermining fundamental rights such as the principle of non-refoulement, the prohibition of collective expulsions, and the protection of vulnerable persons.
As the FRA underscores, these developments highlight the need for continued vigilance and more robust safeguards to uphold fundamental rights at the EU’s borders.
For further details, please read the press release from the FRA and download the full report here.