Even with Billions Spent, EU Struggles to Stop Illegal Crossings from Africa

The European Union is failing to deter illegal immigrants from Africa and could do more to limit abuses against people trying to make the journey, the EU’s financial watchdog warned on Sept. 25.

The findings were presented in a European Court of Auditors report into the EU’s Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, a multi-billion-euro program hastily set up in 2015 after more than 1 million illegal immigrants arrived in Europe.

This influx overwhelmed services in Italy and Greece, sparking Europe-wide calls for something to be done to deal with the arrivals.

The Emergency Trust Fund was meant to help tackle the root causes of migration in Africa, such as poverty, conflict or unemployment.

Initially, 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) was available to distribute on hundreds of projects, but that amount has since burgeoned to around 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion).

The fund is managed by the bloc’s executive branch, the European Commission.

“Despite the lessons learned … the commission is still unable to identify and report the most efficient and effective approaches to reducing irregular migration,” lead EU auditor on the investigation Bettina Jakobsen said.

She further said the commission should “target the aid more thoroughly into what is actually urgent and needed in specific areas and specific countries.”

“Human rights risks have not been properly addressed by the commission, and … there are weaknesses in the accuracy and sustainability of the reported results,” she said.

She also said that the EU “lacked adequate procedures for recording and follow up of allegations of violations of human rights.”

The auditors said they were aware of 10 officers who had reported potential rights abuses in different parts of Africa, but the commission only had a record of one allegation.

The use of the fund in Libya—one of the main launch points for people trying to cross the Mediterranean—was also a point of focus in the report.

A U.N.-appointed investigator said that EU assistance to Libya’s migration department and coast guard “has aided and abetted the commission of the crimes,” including crimes against humanity.

The commission has rejected that allegation.

The auditors also warned of flaws in the use of funds and equipment designed to improve maritime surveillance and reduce deaths at sea off the Libyan coast.

According to the International Organization for Migration, around 30,000 people have died or gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean since 2014.

The report said EU-funded “equipment could be used by actors other than the intended beneficiaries,” or that Libyan staff trained by Europeans “may not be committed to the do-no-harm principle.”

Beneficiaries may also refuse to allow monitors to check what the money has been used for.

In December 2023, the auditors visited the site of a maritime rescue coordination center on the Libyan coast.

Italy was tasked in 2017 with helping the Libyans set it up, but millions of euros, several containers of equipment, and seven years later, it is still not operational.

Under international rules governing the safety of life at sea, Libya must have a rescue center and permanently staff it.

However, for the past seven years, Italy has mostly coordinated the effort in Libyan waters, deciding which ships should respond to emergencies.

The commission mostly accepted the report’s recommendations on how to improve things, acknowledging “that there is a need to further reinforce its capacity to identify and mitigate risks—including by defining specific activities or output indicators in high-risk sectors for human rights.”

“This will be addressed by providing more detailed sectoral guidance material and training,” the commission said.

Despite this contribution, the commission also stressed that, as of last year, the fund had helped send 73,215 illegal immigrants voluntarily back to their home countries.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.