Almost 10 years ago, Fabrice Leggeri, the disgraced former head of the EU's border agency Frontex, parroted the technocratic language of human rights.
"Those people [migrants] are not criminals. It is not a criminal offense to cross the border illegally," he said at a press briefing in Brussels in May 2015.
He had just taken up the role of Frontex chief in January of that year. And he would go on to describe migrants as victims of a system of criminal exploitation.
The debat...
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Already a member? Login hereNikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.
Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.