EU ombudsman flags EUAA failures in Greek asylum interviews

The European Ombudsman on Monday issued four recommendations to the EU Asylum Agency following an enquiry that found severe mishandling of vulnerable asylum seekers in Greece. Caseworkers failed to flag cases of human trafficking and illegal pushbacks, errors that the watchdog attributes to inadequate staff training.

The findings stem from a 2024 complaint by two legal aid NGOs operating on Samos, a primary arrival point in the east Aegean. I Have Rights Samos and Avocats sans Frontières France first raised alarms in November 2022. They argued that the Malta-based agency improperly assessed applications involving torture and failed to act on reports of pushbacks by the Greek coastguard.

The lack of a mechanism for applicants to correct interview errors created a critical blind spot in the asylum process. For businesses and investors monitoring Europe’s peripheral economies, the efficient management of migration is a key stability indicator. Systemic failures at the EUAA risk creating prolonged legal and operational bottlenecks at external borders, directly affecting the regional economies of arrival hotspots.

The bloc relies on the agency to standardise procedures across member states. When an EU body operating in a support role fails to identify trafficking or rights violations, it compromises the integrity of the asylum system and exposes the EU to significant legal liabilities.

The scale of these missed warnings is substantial. A 2024 Heidelberg University study found 7.3 percent of refugees have experienced trafficking. Furthermore, research by a coalition of human rights groups recorded at least 80,865 migrant pushbacks in 2025 alone.

Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho has directed the agency to establish a system for asylum seekers to report interview mistakes, which the EUAA must then assess. She also mandated regular training on vulnerability and trafficking, and required staff to refer identified victims to appropriate support services.

The NGOs warned the issue extends beyond procedural errors. The complaint “also raises serious concern with how the EUAA addresses and investigates allegations of fundamental rights violations committed by its staff and/or by the staff of the national authorities where it carries out operations,” they stated. Summarising the core obligation, the ombudsman wrote on social media: “EUAA should guarantee the protection of fundamental rights in its activities, including when it is only carrying out a support role.”