Europe’s outsourcing of border control increases risks to migrants

In a new report, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) outlines how agreements made between the EU and third countries to prevent refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers from seeking safety within their borders have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people in the last decade, as migration routes have become longer and more dangerous. Over the past 10 years, the EU has made several agreements with third nations, including Türkiye, Libya, Niger, Sudan, Egypt, and Tunisia. It measures the success of these agreements by a drop in migration flows, regardless of the humanitarian, political, or security costs. The report, "Fortress in the Sand: EU Externalisation Policies and Trans-Saharan Migration Routes," highlights the most harmful of these agreements and their human toll. MSF urges the EU to urgently review existing cooperation agreements, programs, and activities outsourcing border control to third countries, to ensure they respect the human rights of all migrants, regardless of their legal status. ... "The European Union considers these partnerships—established with countries of departure and transit countries—to be a success in terms of the number of people arriving in its territory via a given route," says Jérôme Tubiana, MSF operational advisor on migration issues. "But what [EU] representatives are accepting are the tragic human consequences that result from this: thousands of deaths and devastation to the physical and mental health of people forced to constantly take new, more dangerous routes to avoid blockages." ... An increasing number of people are now also attempting the perilous Atlantic crossing to the Canary Islands, with more than 46,000 arrivals to the Spanish archipelago in 2024. ... Between 2015 and September 2025, at least 27,000 people lost their lives drowning in the Mediterranean, including more than 20,000 in the Central Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration. Similarly, in Niger, migrant deaths increased fivefold from 2016 to 2017, when a 2015 law—inspired by the EU’s harmful migration policies—criminalizing the transport of migrants was enforced. ... There is an urgent need to suspend or abandon existing agreements on migration management and border control in third countries. These policies do not guarantee sufficient precautionary measures, respect for human rights, and protection for all migrants regardless of their legal status. Strengthened monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that are regular, financially independent, transparent, and binding must be implemented to ensure respect for human rights. ---- Report: - https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/sites/default/files/documents/Rapport%20Fortress%20in%20the%20sand-final%20%281%29.pdf