Archive
At the behest of the EU Greece is to install a “coastal surveillance system covering the whole sea border between Greece and Turkey”
The latest report from the Hellenic delegation to the Council of the European Union on "serious" deficiencies in the application of the Schengen acquis envisages the construction of a: "National Integrated Maritime Surveillance System (NIMSS)": Read More
Refugee crisis: France-Germany Note: Mass expulsion to subsistence conditions
The "return of asylum seekers (without an assessment on the merits) in order to discourage illegal, smuggler-driven migration" Read More
Press release: EU border agency targeted “isolated or mistreated” individuals for questioning
Guidelines produced for border guards participating in an EU joint operation instruct the targeting of "migrants from minority ethnic groups, and individuals who may have been isolated or mistreated during their journey, as such people are often more willing to talk about their experiences." Read More
EU: Frontex wants “human intelligence” sources, Europol wants “integrated fingerprints and face recognition searches”
EU agencies Frontex (dealing with border control and returns) and Europol (dealing with police cooperation) have published documents setting out their plans for the coming years. The Frontex 'Programming Document' covers the period 2018-20 and includes a proposal to develop "human intelligence" (HUMINT) sources; Europol's equivalent covers 2017-19, including the agency's work programme for 2017, and states an intention to "deliver feasibility analysis on a concept of integrated fingerprints and face recognition searches." Read More
EU-wide biometric databases, “soft targets”, cybersecurity and data protection: Commission’s fourth report on building the ‘Security Union by Chris Jones
At the end of January the European Commission issued its fourth report on "building an effective and genuine Security Union”, examining four topics: “information systems and interoperability, soft target protection, cyber threat and data protection in the context of criminal investigations." The report puts significant focus on the need for “interoperability” between EU and national-level information systems and databases, in order to enable EU-wide biometric surveillance, one of the current favourite topics of EU security officials. Read More
Opaque and unaccountable: Frontex Operation Hera by Vera Wriedt and Darius Reinhardt
The partial concealment of border enforcement procedures underlines the inherent structural accountability and transparency deficits of Frontex specifically and EU agencies in general. Read More
EU: New detention centres part of €7 million EU migration project in Belarus
An EU-funded project in Belarus is providing €7 million to establish "a fully-fledged irregular migration management strategy," including the construction of a series of 'Migrants' Accommodation Centres' throughout a country perhaps best-known for being Europe's last remaining dictatorship. Read More
Malta: “Non-returnable” migrants: Editorial: Disintegrating the integrated
"Times of Malta, The Malta Independent and MaltaToday have joined forces to call on the Maltese government to review Malta’s arbitrary system of ‘temporary humanitarian protection’ and to regularise the position of detained migrants whose Read More