Episode 23: 'Frontex's task is, and always will be, to stop people entering Europe'

In today's episode, we speak with transparency activist Luisa Izuzquiza from the German campaign group Frag Den Staat (Ask the State).  She tells us why Frag Den Staat and Sea-Watch are launching legal action against Frontex, the European Border and Coastguard Agency. She also explains why Frontex is an inherently violent institution that is incompatible with human rights, and why it should be abolished.  ---Show notes--- Check out Frag Den Staat's English website: fragdenstaat.de/en Follow Frag Den Staat on Twitter: @fragdenstaat Take a read of Frag Den Staat's press release on why they and Sea-Watch are taking legal action against Frontex: bit.ly/3sqPO7C Be sure to read up on Luisa Izuzquiza's work with Frag Den Staat here: bit.ly/3FP1dnz  For more on Switzerland's Frontex referendum, see here: frontex-referendum.ch/en/ And be sure to check out Abolish Frontex too: abolishfrontex.org/ Should you want to, you can see Frontex's official website here: frontex.europa.eu  For more on Frontex's cooperation with the Libyan Coastguards and its refusal to work with activist rescuers, see this interview with Sea Watch's head of airborne operations Tamino Bohm on The Civil Fleet: bit.ly/38lSc8T and read this exposé: bit.ly/3yuKjZq You can read about former Frontex director Fabrice Leggeri's resignation on Politico here: politi.co/3M6IAOa  For more on Sea-Watch, see episodes 1 and 22 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.  A few times throughout the interview, Ben and Luisa refer to freedom of information requests by the initialism FOI.  Luisa mentions the 15M movement in Spain. You can read about them here: bit.ly/3M7se7P  For more on Spain's intelligence agency and its recent scandals, check out this story I wrote for the Morning Star in January: bit.ly/3yw7p28 and this more recent story in the Guardian newspaper: bit.ly/3yKGccb  For more on the threats to the freedom of information in Britain, see this 2021 article from the Press Gazette: bit.ly/3P6r2U6 and follow the Campaign for Freedom of Information's updates here: cfoi.org.uk If you'd like to learn more about FOI requests or make on in Britain, be sure to check out What Do Thet Know: whatdotheyknow.com  Lighthouse Reports revealed last month that Frontex aided at least 957 refugee pushbacks by Greece in 2020-2021. You can read more about that here: bit.ly/3ONFikm  Ben and Luisa briefly talk about the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. For more on the refugee situation in Ceuta, check out episode 6 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with No Name Kitchen activist Irina Get in touch: @FleetCivil [email protected] Support:  ko-fi.com/civilfleet