Frontex: agency gives limited outline of role of surveillance in Mediterranean
Topic
Country/Region
01 August 2022
Responding to a Parliamentary question, Frontex's reply, published here, gives a cursory outline of how its aerial surveillance fits into search and rescue operations, and the agency's knowledge of "Maltese Armed Forces apparently allow[ing] fully loaded and obviously unseaworthy vessels to sail through their maritime rescue zone without taking the necessary measures".
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In May this year, Left MEP Özlem Demirel submitted questions on detection and notification of maritime emergencies to Frontex via the Commission for written answer. Frontex interim director Aija Kalnaja replied in July, giving light details on the agency's routines and procedure to determine the existence of a maritime emergency on the high seas, its activities related to the detection of maritime emergencies involving people presumed to be fleeing Libya on vessels, and the extent of its knowledge of fundamental rights violations in the Maltese search and rescue zone.
Documentation
Frontex: Transmission letter from Frontex to the Commission regarding written question (pdf)
Further reading
- 8 June: Frontex: big spending on aerial surveillance
- 22 January: Frontex: the ongoing failure to implement human rights safeguards
- 6 May 2021: Border surveillance, drones and militarisation of the Mediterranean
- 25 January 2021: EU: Agreement between Frontex and Mediterranean military force: cooperation on pullbacks to Libya?
Image: San Leandro Privacy, CC BY-NC 2.0
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