All 27 European Union (EU) Member States except Ireland are bound by Article 8 (6) of the EU’s Return Directive (2008/115/EC) to set up effective forced return monitoring mechanisms.

The 26 EU countries bound by the Return Directive have all adopted a legal basis for national forced return monitoring systems. In addition, National Preventive Mechanisms established under the 2002 Optional Protocol to the United Nations (UN) Convention Against Torture have a mandate, under international law, to monitor all places where individuals are deprived of their liberty, which includes forced returns.

In practice, in 2022 FRA noted that in six EU Member States – Bulgaria, Spain, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia and Poland – no national forced return operation was monitored. In Croatia, the Croatian Law Centre – a civil society organisation – monitored forced returns until April 2021, when an EU-funded project came to an end.

Table 1 lists the forced return monitoring bodies in the EU Member States, flagging key concerns selected by FRA and identified based on available information. More information is available in the annex.

Table 1 – Forced return monitoring bodies, 27 EU Member States

Note: NGO = Non-governmental organisation

Source: FRA (2023)