Frontex, EU Commission and Europol Discuss Innovative Technologies to Strengthen Schengen Borders
The European Commission’s Director for Borders, Schengen and Visa, Matthias Oel, as well as Frontex’s Executive Director, Hans Leijtens, and Deputy Executive Director of Europol, Capabilities Directorate, Luis de Eusebio Ramos, participated in the conference held in Warsaw, Poland, in which the issue was discussed, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The EU’s Director for Borders, Schengen and Visa said that the EU is investing in new IT architecture in order to make the bloc the most advanced entity when it comes to border protection.
He said that the meeting serves as a platform for dialogue in order to discuss operational solutions for data collection and also identify the strength and possible limitations of innovative technologies eligible for Member States regarding internal borders protection.
At the same time, Frontex Executive Director, Hans Leijtens, said that the agency is striving to integrate cutting-edge technologies into border management as well as law enforcement efforts.
“Advanced aerial surveillance and satellite imaging, for instance, can provide real-time monitoring of vast and remote border areas, enabling us to detect illegal crossings and suspicious activities with greater precision. We can also spot a boat in distress in the middle of the vast sea and alert the national rescue centres, saving lives that otherwise may have been lost,” Leijtens pointed out.
During the conference, representatives of the EU Member States, together with law enforcement and border guard authorities, discussed the possibility of detecting human smugglers as well as high-risk travellers, and methods of monitoring and tracking vehicles suspected of illegal activities, among others.
Authorities in the EU countries are receiving an influx of people who attempt to enter these territories in unlawful and often using risky ways.
The figures of Frontex showed that in the first two months of this year, the Central Mediterranean route, particularly, experienced a surge in the number of illegal detections.
Through a press release, Frontex said that a total of 11,951 illegal border crossings were registered in January and February this year at the Central Mediterranean route, thus accounting for a 119 per cent surge compared to the same period last year’s figures.
Frontex revealed that a surge in illegal border crossings was also registered at the Eastern and Western Mediterranean routes.
Earlier this month, Frontex’s Executive Director, Hans Leijtens, along with the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi, and Minister of Citizens’ Protection, Panagiotis Theodorikakos, reached an agreement on a new plan that would further expand the agency’s support in order to return migrants to their home countries.
