Frontex Helps EU Countries Return More Than 33,000 Migrants in First Half of 2026

Human Rights Watch

Migrants caught by Frontex personnel.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, said on Monday that it had helped EU Member States return more than 33,000 people to non-EU countries in the first half of 2026, up from around 30,000 in the same period a year earlier. Around two in three of them returned voluntarily. 

That takes the number of people Frontex has helped return since 2022 to around 215 000, according to the agency.

The agency also said that around 21,000 of those returns were voluntary, up from approximately 19,000 in the first half of last year. It noted that return procedures begin after an individual has exhausted all available legal avenues for remaining in the EU.

Frontex officers deployed at airports in 11 European countries assist in obtaining travel documents from migrants’ countries of origin, as well as handling the administrative and logistical arrangements for return flights.

Türkiye, Syria and Georgia were the main countries of origin among those returned with Frontex assistance, while Germany, France and Cyprus recorded the highest numbers of returns.

EU countries are seeking to increase returns during the second half of the year, coinciding with the implementation of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum.

Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Greece are also working to reach agreements with non-EU countries to establish “return centres” for people whose asylum or residency applications have been rejected.



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