Intelligence compiled during Frontex missions

The Frontex missions being deployed in the Mediterranean have mostly served to gather intelligence on illegal migration, Parliamentary Secretary Tony Abela admitted yesterday.

"The Frontex missions are like a big jigsaw puzzle; we need more pieces (member states endorsing it) for it to be really effective... But we have much more information on how and when immigrants are crossing over," Dr Abela said when pressed about the apparent ineffectiveness of the missions.

European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini stressed last July that the flow of illegal migrants in the Mediterranean had dropped by 40 per cent since the start of the patrols by the EU border control agency. Yet, on the same day, Frontex director Ilkka Laitinen admitted that, despite the drop in figures, the agency in reality was not stopping any boats from travelling to Europe.

Dr Abela conceded that there was need for support from more member states but insisted that the missions were gaining momentum. A decisive programme to tackle immigration depends on a cooperation agreement between different countries, he said, adding that the Frontex missions also served to raise awareness in this regard.

He was speaking at a press conference in which details were given on the final phase of the Poseidon mission in Greece on which a group of six soldiers from the AFM's C Company will be embarking between Tuesday and October 7.

The mission forms part of a three-phase, land-based Frontex operation in Greece for which the Armed Forces of Malta have allocated three six-soldier teams.

The first two phases were held between May 15 and July 15.

This September, the Maltese team has been assigned patrolling duties on the island of Lesbos. During their 10-day mission, the soldiers will be screening part of the island's coast for suspicious movements and reporting them to the Greek authorities for interception.

Simultaneously, the army is involved in the Nautilus II operation, which is patrolling the seas just outside Malta's search and rescue area.