Every year, tens of thousands of people risk their lives trying to enter the European Union (EU) in an irregular way, and many die in the attempt. Increasing the availability of legal avenues to reach the EU would contribute to make the right to asylum set forth in Article 18 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights a reality for vulnerable refugees and other persons in need of protection who are staying in a third country, often facing risks to their safety. It would also help to fight smuggling in human beings. This FRA focus seeks to contribute towards the elaboration of such legal entry options so that these can constitute a viable alternative to risky irregular entry.

The Conclusions contain suggestions and concerns voiced by participants at the conference, from plenary speakers and panellists through to members of the thematic working groups.

Together with two FRA sister reports on the
EU’s air and southern sea borders, this report’s findings serve to inform EU and Member State practitioners and
policy makers of fundamental rights challenges that can emerge at land borders. Increased awareness should
also help to create a shared understanding among border guards of what fundamental obligations mean for
their daily work, ultimately enhancing fundamental rights compliance at the EU’s external borders.

The report examines the procedures for and conduct of checks that border guards carry out on third-country national passengers entering European Union (EU) territory at five international airports.

This summary, and the related full report, look at how fundamental rights obligations
translate into practical border management tasks.
The report points out challenges as well as promising practices of integrating fundamental
rights compliance into operational tasks that do not compromise but instead enhance the
effectiveness of border checks.

** Please note than an updated 2020 edition of this handbook is now available.** The Handbook on European law relating to asylum, borders and immigration is jointly produced by the European Court of Human Rights and the FRA. It examines the relevant law in the field of asylum, borders and immigration stemming from both European systems: the European Union and the Council of Europe. It provides an accessible guide to the various European standards relevant to asylum, borders and immigration.

This FRA report examines the conditions at Europe’s southern sea borders with respect to the most fundamental rights of a person, the right to life and the right not to be sent back to torture, persecution or inhuman treatment. It looks at sea border surveillance and disembarkation procedures, as well as general issues such as European Union (EU) policy, training and Frontex-coordinated operations, and examines practices across the EU Member States researched – Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain.

The majority of irregular arrivals by sea to the European Union (EU) occur in the Mediterranean. Although the phenomenon is not widespread throughout the EU, it affects the EU as a whole. This publication reviews the solidarity measures the EU has established to support those countries most affected by irregular arrivals by sea. It will focus on the fundamental rights challenges raised by such measures but will not discuss whether these measures are sufficient and adequate for genuinely sharing the costs associated with the arrivals. This publication will also touch upon EU funding instruments and intra-EU relocation from Malta and more thoroughly describe the operational cooperation with Frontex.

This FRA report examines the conditions at Europe’s southern sea borders with respect to the most fundamental rights of a person, the right to life and the right not to be sent back to torture, persecution or inhuman treatment. It looks at sea border surveillance and disembarkation procedures, as well as training and Frontex-coordinated operations. It examines practices across the EU Member States researched – Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain.