European Fortress: Millions of dollars spent on military-grade technology to deter refugees | European Union

“Actually, none of this prevents people from crossing the border; having drones or helicopters does not prevent people from crossing the border, you will only see people taking a more adventurous approach,” said Jack Sapoch of the former border violence monitoring network. “This is a long history. As the security of one part of the border increases, the flow of another part of the border continues.”

Petra Molnar, who is responsible for immigration and technology monitoring at the Refugee Law Laboratory, said that it is inappropriate for the EU to rely on these companies to develop “stupid ideas” into technology for use at its borders.

“They rely on the private sector to make these toys for them. But there is very little regulation,” she said. “Some kind of technology brother is spending a day about it.”

“For me, what’s really sad is that all this money is spent on camps, fences, surveillance, and drones. It’s almost a deal.”

Aerial surveillance

Refugees and migrants trying to enter the EU by land or sea are under surveillance in the air. Border officials use drones and helicopters in the Balkans, while Greece has airships on the border with Turkey. The most expensive tool is the long-endurance Heron drone operating over the Mediterranean Sea.

Frontex Award A 100 million euro (91 million pounds) contract Last year, the Heron and Hermes drones manufactured by two Israeli arms companies were used by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. These drones can fly at an altitude of 10,000 meters (30,000 feet) for more than 30 hours, sending signals back to Frontex’s headquarters in Warsaw in almost real time.

Most of the missions start from Malta, focusing on the Libyan search and rescue zone where the Libyan Coast Guard will perform its mission “Pull back” When the European Forces notified ships attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

Germany’s MEP Özlem Demirel is opposing the EU’s use of drones and ties with arms companies, which she said has turned immigration into a security issue.

“The arms industry said:’This is a safety issue, so buy my weapons, buy my drones, buy my surveillance systems,'” Demirel said.

“The EU has been talking about values ​​such as human rights, [speaking out] Against violations, but…every week we see more and more deaths, and we have to question whether the European Union violates its values,” she said.

Sensors and cameras

EU aviation assets are equipped with sensors and dedicated cameras on the ground. These sensors and dedicated cameras are located everywhere Europe Used to discover sports and find hidden people. They include mobile radars and thermal imaging cameras installed on vehicles, as well as heartbeat detectors and carbon dioxide monitors used to detect signs of people hidden in the vehicle.

Greece has deployed thermal imaging cameras and sensors along its land border with Turkey to monitor signal sources from operations centers (such as Nea Vyssa near the intersection of the Greek, Turkish, and Bulgarian borders).At the same time, in June, Greece deployed a vehicle Sound cannon It will make a “deafening” explosion sound up to 162 decibels, forcing people to look back.

Poland hopes to follow the example of Greece to deal with the crisis on the border with Belarus. In October, its parliament approved a 350 million euro separation wall, which will extend along half of the border. Up to 5.5 meters (18 feet), Equipped with motion detector and thermal imager.

monitoring Center

In September, Greece opens refugee camps On the island of Samos, described as a prison.38 million euro (32 million pounds) facility for 3,000 asylum seekers with military-grade fencing And CCTV to track people’s movements. Access is controlled by fingerprints, revolving doors and X-rays. A private security company and 50 uniformed police monitored the camp. This is the first of five planned by Greece; another two will open in November.

At the same time, Greece opened New surveillance center in Samos, Able to watch video sources from 35 refugee camps in the country from the monitor wall. Greece says that “smart” software helps to alert camps of emergencies.

artificial intelligence

EU spends 4.5 million euros (3.8 million pounds) for a three-year artificial intelligence polygraph test Greece, Hungary and Latvia. A machine scans the facial expressions of refugees and migrants as they answer questions, determines if they are lying, and relays the information to border officials.

The last experiment was completed at the end of 2019 and was hailed as a success by the European Union, but the academic community has already Pseudoscience, Believes that the “micro expressions” analyzed by software cannot be reliably used to determine whether someone is lying.this Software is the subject of court cases Patrick Breyer, a member of the European Parliament, took it to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, arguing that there should be more public scrutiny of such technologies. A decision is expected on December 15.

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