FRONT=EX

data regarding each distress situation at sea Frontex had been made aware of (either thanks
to its own assets or those of EUNAVFOR, or by Maltese, Italian, Tunisian or Libyan coastguards,
or by NGOs, or any sailing ship), from 2011, january 1st, to 2021, august 31.

Could you communicate those data in a CSV file with these variables:
Date of distress situation (DD/MM/YYYY)

Time at which Frontex had been made aware of the distress situation (HHMMSS) Coordinates
of distress situation first detection (longitude, latitude) Coordinates of distress situation
resolution/interception (longitude, latitude) Cause of distress Transport type Total number of
irregular migrants implied Death cases Source of the alert (Frontex assets, EUNAVFOR assets,
coastguards (country), NGO (name), other ship (name), boat in distress, other)

Asset(s) fulfilling SAR operation
Port of disembarkation
RCC coordinating SAR operations

Frontex financed/deployed asset during ? (Y/N)

Please find attached the document containing information regarding the releasable variables.

Please note that Frontex is only able to provide you with the variables until 31 December 2020.
Information from January 2021 and onward cannot be released as it pertains sensitive information
regarding ongoing operations. Releasing this information would benefit criminal networks, enabling
them to change their modus operandi and consequently result in hampering the course of ongoing and
future similar operations, which would put the lives of migrants in danger. This would ultimately
obstruct the purpose of such operations: to counter and prevent cross-border crime and unauthorized
border crossings. Consequently, access to the variables from the year 2021 has to be declined as its
disclosure would undermine the protection of the public interest as regards public security as laid down
in Article 4(1)(a) first indent of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

' In accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).

Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency
www.frontex.europa.eu | Pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw, Poland | Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 | Fax +48 22 205 95 01

FRONT=EX

With regard to the variables ‘Date of distress situation (DD/MM/YYYY)’ and ‘Time at which Frontex had
been made aware of the distress situation (HH:MM:SS)’, please note that Frontex only holds information
pertaining to ‘Detection date’ and ‘Reporting date’.

Furthermore, information concerning the following variables:

Coordinates of distress situation first detection (longitude, latitude)
-  Coordinates of distress situation resolution/interception (longitude, latitude)

cannot be released as disclosing such information would be tantamount to disclosing the locations of
Frontex assets and would enable third parties, e.g. by combining this information with other sources,
to draw conclusions regarding usual positions and movement patterns. Releasing such information would
thus benefit criminal networks, enabling them to change their modus operandi and, consequently, result
in hampering the course of ongoing and future operations of a similar nature. This would ultimately
obstruct the purpose of such operations: to counter and prevent cross-border crime and unauthorised
border crossings and would put the lives of migrants in danger. In this light, the disclosure of information
regarding coordinates of distress situations would undermine the protection of the public interest as
regards public security within the meaning of Article 4(1)(a) first indent of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001.

As regards the variable ‘RCC coordinating SAR operations’, please note that this information is not
available as a variable in the database. This information is mentioned only in the passing together with
other information. Kindly note that Frontex, in its service to the public, is equally obliged to adhere to
the principles of transparency and to the principles of sound administration. The administrative burden
necessary to identify the information concerning the ‘RCC coordinating SAR operations’, connecting the
information to the specific incidents and redacting the releasable elements would be disproportionate
to the interest in the disclosure exercise itself. Consequently, your request concering information about
“RCC coordinating SAR operations’ must be declined owing to the particular circumstances of the
present case.

Regarding the variable ‘Cause of distress’, please note that Frontex does not hold any data.

Kindly be reminded that the copyright of the document rests with Frontex and making this works
available to third parties in this or another form without prior authorisation of Frontex is prohibited.
Please also note that Frontex does not assume liability stemming from the use of the document.

Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, within 15 working days of the receipt of this
letter, you may submit a confirmatory application to Frontex to reconsider its position. Based on Article
8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, Frontex will reply to you within 15 working days from the registration
of such application. You can submit your confirmatory application by post or electronically.

Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency
www.frontex.europa.eu | Pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw, Poland | Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 | Fax +48 22 205 95 01