2026
Frontex mandate review 2026: violent border practices to be expanded further
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, better known as Frontex, is set for a major overhaul, with it seeming likely Frontex’s mandate will be expanded by the end of 2026. Along with increased border guard staffing, the agency could see its role in border control and deportations extended far beyond European territory. In this analysis, researcher Marloes Streppel breaks down the main themes of the proposed Frontex overhaul, details the EU’s main motivations and priorities and concludes with concerns raised by civil society groups and academics.
Invoking the "instrumentalisation" of migration, the UK follows in the EU's footsteps
In 2025 the UK announced a new sanctions regime targeting alleged people smugglers. It makes use of the “instrumentalisation of migrants” narrative that has been increasingly invoked by the EU since the early 2020s. This article explains what this narrative is, the powers it is used to justify and how it contributes to the degradation of migrant and refugee rights.
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