The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), in its Fundamental Rights Report 2023, highlights inter alia the following key elements:

Fundamental rights at borders:

• Deaths at borders continue. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented 2,967 deaths and disappearances at Europe’s sea borders in 2022.
   
• Serious fundamental rights violations against migrants and refugees at the EU’s external land and sea borders persisted. Incidents reported from the EU’s external borders involved verbal and physical violence, ill-treatment, failure to rescue, stripping people naked, stealing property, forced family separations and summary expulsions of those seeking asylum. Many incidents go unreported.
   
• Civil society plays a key role in mitigating the hardships that asylum applicants and irregular migrants experienced, and in defending their rights under international and EU law. However, there are hindrances to their work, particularly if they operate at borders.
   
• The system of EU rules on border controls and related matters is generally referred to as the Schengen border acquis. It contains several safeguards to protect fundamental rights. Practitioners still do not known and mobilise them enough.

Asylum and immigration policies in transition:

• Uptake of EU long-term residence is low compared with national long-term or permanent residence permits. There are gaps in accessing rights, and intra-EU mobility is underused.
   
• The Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Border Management and Visa Instrument under the Integrated Border Management Fund are important tools for putting EU policies into practice, but also for making sure that they respect fundamental rights.

EU Information Technology Systems:

• The legal instruments establishing three new systems (EES, ETIAS, ECRIS-TCN) contain significant fundamental rights safeguards, including in relation to data protection and non-discrimination. The implementation phase is crucial to ensure that these safeguards are not purely on paper.
   
• The EU co-legislators need to limit the processing of personal data to what is necessary and proportionate to achieve the objectives of the Advance Passenger Information Directive. That requires a cautious approach. Evaluating the impact on fundamental rights will be critical, as the European Commission envisages.

For further information please read the full report above.