FRONTEX - shutting the door .... ?

EurActiv announced that the EU External Borders Agency FRONTEX (European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States 0r Frontières extérieures,) was inaugurated in Warsaw on 30th June 2005 ( Council Reg. 2007/2004). This may have passed you by as the only press report at the time appears to be ...

EurActiv Poland Agencja ds. Ochrony Granic Zewnętrznych oficjalnie rozpoczęła działalność

However a Press Release (Ref : MEMO/05/230) from Brussels on the same day tells us that Commander-in-chief of the Royal Marechaussee Minze Atte Mr BEUVING of the Netherlands has been elected as Chairperson and Major General Jozsef BENDEK of Hungary was elected Deputy Chairperson. The agency will have 57 staff with 26 permanent staff including the Executive Director Colonel LAITINEN , a Finn.

The Agency's budget is set at € 6,28 Mio for 2005 and 9,95 for 2006 (plus an additional 2 Mio €, not yet confirmed). In the new EU Financial Perspectives, the Commission has proposed an amount of €20 Mn. for 2007, €25 Min for 2008 and €30 Min for the years after. Besides the money to be allocated for the Agency, the creation of a European External Borders Fund, worth €2, 1 Billion to compensate Member States for external border controlling activities they undertake has been agreed.

The Agency shall perform the following tasks: see operating Document Oct.2005 for more details. Word Doc.

* coordinate operational cooperation between Member States in the field of management of external borders;

* assist Member States on training of national border guards, including the establishment of common training standards;

* carry out risk analyses;

* follow up on the development of research relevant for the control and surveillance of external borders;

* assist Member States in circumstances requiring increased technical and operational assistance at external borders;

* provide Member States with the necessary support in organising joint return operations.

Both Vice President of the European Commission Franco Frattini, responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security, and Luxembourg Justice minister Luc Frieden, on behalf of the EU Presidency agreed ...that establishing FRONTEX ...

" .... has further strengthened our confidence in our capability to establish and maintain an area of freedom, security and justice for everyone living in the EU. The spectre of international terrorism, the human tragedies of victims of trafficking and the equally sad and grave consequences of illegal immigration into the EU, are constant reminders that we need to do even more to combat the many and diverse threats facing this area.”

Whatever all that means is difficult to understand but the policies so far seem to be more the production of Fortress Europe. They seem rather to be searching for ways to make the borders invisible, but nonetheless through the use of technology such as UAVs, satellite tracking, GPS and shared databases of information collected from biometric identification mechanisms on passports and visas the public might feel otherwise.,, Take note they can look from further above, according to the EC DG of energy and transport,

“Space technologies will offer a helping hand : with the start of EGNOS and GALILEO system, and with the existing GPS, movements of vehicles on land, in air and at sea can be tracked accurately”.

Which means not only can you can control people trying to get in , but can more effectively control those within.

So far their activities have been unremarked but there is an interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor June 8th 2006 on the massive influx into Malta and the Canary islands of African migrants...."Responding to Spanish pleas for assistance in handling this human tide, the European Union's border security agency, Frontex, made the unprecedented decision to dispatch multinational patrols off the coastlines of Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal."

Some 4,000 Africans have been caught trying to reach the Canaries so far this year - compared to 4,751 for all of 2005

On May 30, Frontex announced 8 countries would assist Spain in sending boats, planes, and rapid-response(?) teams to patrol the waters off Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal. (A 9th country, Portugal, has since joined the effort.) "For the Canary Islands and Malta [which is also facing an influx of African migrants], Frontex is devoting 2.1 million euros of its 12.8-million-euro budget," says Michal Parzyszek, spokesman for the agency. "So it's clear that we understand the importance of these hot spots."

Police officials reckon there are at least 12,000 would-be migrants in and around the North Mauritanian port of Nouadhibou, picking their way between the donkey-drawn carts and battered green taxis, waiting for the day of their illicit getaway in the same way they waited at Calais to ride the Chunnel trains.

The Red Crescent estimates that from January to March 2006, at least 1,300 Africans perished trying to make the treacherous trip from Nouadhibou.

There is some enlightenment, Jesus Caldera the Spanish Minister of Labor and Social Affairs says that tighter enforcement alone is not going to solve the immigrant problem.

At a recent press conference, he claimed the immigrant tide resulted from Africa's "misery and desperate conditions," and said what was needed was a "coordinated, international action to prevent the inequalities between rich and poor countries from growing." Indeed, a key element of the Spanish plan is to involve the EU not only in policing (Spain is submitting to the EU plans for a database, the "Sea Horse Network" to track illegal immigration in real time) but in African development as well.

Times of Malta August 30, 2006 reported a meeting in Valleta attended by Frontex, Europol, and the Maltese Police and Armed Forces resulting in an agreement for coastal patrols to commence mid September off Malta and Libya. Greece and Italy (10,000 migrants have reached Lampedusa this year) ad agreed to provide vessels, while France and Germany had pledged sea assets to patrol the lengthy Libyan coast.

Libya, who have not signed the Geneva Convention , but whom the US have removed from their list of terror states (including Venezuela at the same time) are not happy with these proposals and initially opted out of supporting the patrols - which will be reviewed after 3/4 weeks operation.(It was the US Coastguard base on Lampedusa that Col. Gadaffi's Scud missile hit when Uncle Sam tried to kill him)

The home affairs ministers of Libya, Malta and Italy were to meet in Valletta yesterday to discuss immigration but Commissioner Frattini asked them to postpone it until after an EU ministerial between the 20th and 22nd September when immigration will be one of the main topics principally because Libya is "considering" joining EU sea patrols in return for collaboration on desert patrols.(BBC ONline here)

This is presumably where the European External Borders Fund, worth €2, 1 Billion to compensate Member States for external border controlling activities comes into play ....????

At the same time Libya's European Affairs Minister Abdulati Alobidi has expressed criticism over Europe’s plans to stem illegal immigration at sea. He asked for help patrol Libyan internal borders of 4,000 Km to stop the flow of migrants from poverty stricken countries south of the Sahara desert and asked for helicopters, off-road vehicles, night-vision equipment and speedboats.( But maybe NATO could use those in Afghanistan ?)

By the way if you fancy a job as Head of Research & Development (06/TA/A/24) at FRONTEX you have ten days left to apply for the post, which requires TOP SECRET security clearance. Apply here.

If you hadn't heard about FRONTEX before .. expect to hear a lot more in the future...indeed Colonel Ikka Laitinen, Executive Director of FRONTEX will pay an official visit to Cyprus 5-8 September.He will hold meetings to examine Cyprus / FRONTEX co-operation and visit the Cyprus / Turkish cease fire line, as well as Paphos Airport and Limassol port.

A much unheralded EU wide organisation run on military lines with access to Euros 1 Bn plus to patrol EU borders and monitor people and their movements ? Hmmmmmmmmmm.