Irregular crossings at Europe’s borders have fallen by 30% in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period last year, in a decrease that rights groups partly attributed to EU policies that have emphasised deterrence while seemingly turning a blind eye to the risk of rights abuses.

The falling number of arrivals comes as the bloc has increasingly struck agreements with countries outside Europe, such as Libya and Tunisia, where practices such as beatings, sexual violence and imprisonment have been documented.

“The bottom line is that, insofar as the drop in arrivals is due to the EU’s deterrence measures, those measures are accompanied very clearly by human rights abuse that the EU is therefore complicit in,” said Sunderland.