FRA flags fundamental rights challenges as Migration and Asylum Pact takes effect

EU flag at border post — MoiraM / adobestock.com

FRA’s second Migration Bulletin for 2026 shows continued fundamental rights challenges at the external borders, and for displaced people from Ukraine. Persistent risks to life, as well as allegations of violence, summary returns and restricted access to asylum, remain a concern. Investigations of rights violations at borders remain inadequate, despite increasing judicial scrutiny and monitoring in some EU Member States. The Pact on Migration and Asylum, which entered into application in June 2026, brings new obligations for Member States with respect to fundamental rights of migrants, asylum applicants and refugees.

Read the bulletin

Seventy-five years after the 1951 Refugee Convention set out the principle of non-refoulement, FRA’s second Migration and Fundamental Rights Bulletin for 2026 shows that this key principle is being tested at Europe's borders.

The bulletin highlights the following fundamental rights concerns:

Deaths at sea: Deaths remain high on the Mediterranean and Atlantic routes despite fewer arrivals. Between April and June 2026, at least 559 people were reported dead or missing on these routes to Europe, including at least 15 children.
Rescue at sea: Civil society organisations involved in search and rescue continue to face legal challenges and sanctions. Courts in some Member States have recently blocked or overturned sanctions – a reminder that assisting people in distress at sea is an obligation under international law, not a crime.
Rights violations at borders: Reports of summary returns, violence and restricted access to asylum continue along the Eastern Mediterranean, Balkan and Belarus routes. Investigations into rights violations at borders remain slow, discontinued or unresolved, feeding a perception of impunity.
Displaced people from Ukraine: While the European Commission has proposed to extend temporary protection to March 2028, Member States are preparing for an eventual transition to national residence schemes. Adequate safeguards are needed to ensure that the transition does not leave vulnerable people in legal uncertainty with reduced access to rights.

This second FRA Migration Bulletin for 2026 also takes note of key policy, legal and operational developments, which impacted on fundamental rights in the migration context between April and June 2026.

The new Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into force on 12 June 2026. It requires Member States to set up independent fundamental rights monitoring mechanisms during border screening and the asylum border procedure. Most Member States are still finalising their arrangements, amid gaps in resources and training. FRA has developed a common monitoring methodology to enhance fundamental rights protection and is piloting it with several Member States.

The introduction of the EU's new Entry/Exit System on 10 April 2026 has created administrative demands and operational challenges for Member States. It has also had an impact on travellers; long waiting times in inadequate facilities are observed in some countries, which disproportionately affect children, older people, pregnant women and persons with disabilities.

Another key development of note was the Council of Europe (CoE)’s Chișinău Declaration of May 2026, which addresses challenges linked to migration. The declaration reaffirmed the commitment of CoE members to the European Convention on Human Rights and their support for the independence of the European Court of Human Rights.

FRA’s quarterly Migration Bulletins serve to inform the European Commission's assessment of the migratory situation and related pressures on Member States.