European Border Guard can not handle tasks

brussels - The European Border and Coast Guard established in 2016 can not even carry out half of its tasks. The European Commission therefore urges the Member States to deliver more people and equipment.

The Warsaw-based agency currently supports national border guards with 1,500 men, of whom about 50 are Dutch. Due to the increased migration from Turkey (this year more than 15,000 people) to Spain (6600 in 2018) and along the Western Balkans, more staff is needed.

The service wants to become more active at the land border of Greece with Turkey, Albania and Macedonia. The migration crisis of 2015 has indeed been contained, but the situation is still fragile, says EU Commissioner Dmitris Avramopoulos (Migration). He calls on the Member States to make much more use of the Agency when returning to their home countries from people who are not entitled to protection. This year the service helped organize 111 return operations.

The European Commission has proposed extending the EU border guard to 10 000 men from 2021 onwards.

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