Malta has nominated two experts to join a rapid intervention team stationed at the border between Greece and Turkey to control the massive influx of illegal immigrants crossing into the EU.
The EU border control agency Frontex last week made an urgent call for assistance to send a team of EU experts to the area where 175 border guards yesterday started being deployed.
“Although this is just a token participation, due to our small size and our own illegal immigration problems, we feel participation in this mission is crucial if we really believe in EU solidarity,” government sources said.
The Maltese experts will be joining the Frontex-led mission, codenamed J0 Rabit 2010, for the next two months.
This is the first mission of its kind and forms part of a permanent pool of reserves and equipment put in place by the 27 member states two years ago when the EU rapid intervention border teams (Rabit) were set up. These stand-by resources are deployed at the request of member states if they experience a sudden influx of illegal immigrants at their borders making it impossible for their policing officers to cope on their own.
Last week, Greece became the first EU member states to call for urgent help as hundreds of illegal immigrants started pouring into the southern EU member state every day.
The EU team is being deployed particularly to guard a 12-kilometre stretch between Orestiada and Alexandroupolis, which had been left unmanned by the Greek authorities due to the lack of resources and personnel.
Illegal migration experts explained that what was happening on the Greek-Turkish border was a direct consequence of the positive impact the joint sea-border operation between Libya and Italy was having. “The central Mediterranean route of illegal immigration has been almost closed due to the surveillance of the Libya-Malta-Sicily strait and, so, the pressure is shifting elsewhere,” the experts said.
“Desperate migrants from sub-Saharan Africa still want to reach Europe. Since Malta and Italy are now practically closed, the pressure on the Turkey-Greece route is reaching new heights,” they said.
It is estimated that 30,000 illegal immigrants have already crossed into Greece this year.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will be travelling to Greece at the end of the week to personally follow the deployment of the EU troops.
Among various tasks, the EU officers will be helping the Greek authorities to identify apprehended migrants, collect evidence on cross-border crime and assist with the return process of undocumented persons.
Among the specialised skills represented in the Frontex mission are false document experts, stolen vehicle experts, dog handlers, experts in clandestine entry and first-hand second-line border control checks.
Frontex said yesterday its officers received mandatory training in human rights while special briefings in fundamental human rights would be given on the spot as a provision of the team’s deployment.