Forced return monitoring is an important safeguard to protect the fundamental rights of migrants who are being returned to their countries of origin. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) issues an annual overview of national forced return monitoring systems and their monitoring statistics across the EU. The latest overview reveals gaps in monitoring that need addressing.

The EU’s return directive raised awareness of fundamental rights by introducing a safeguard which is the monitoring of returns. Since 2014, EU countries abide by common standards and practices protecting migrants’ rights in return procedures.

Ten years on, FRA’s latest annual update presents a concerning picture in 2024:

• return operations have steadily increased across the EU, but national monitoring has decreased;
• five EU countries did not implement monitoring of forced return operations;
• in eight EU countries, the number of monitoring operations dropped compared to 2023;
• in some EU countries, fewer than 10 return operations were monitored.

The update also points to a lack of resources and gaps in the financing of the monitoring mechanisms, undermining their sustainability.

For an overview of the monitoring carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) pool of forced return monitors, see the Frontex Fundamental Rights Officer’s 2024 report.