Brussels, 05/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - European border management agency Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) both called at the weekend for member states to deploy experts, mainly in Italy and Greece, to ensure that so-called “hotspots”, to identify and register migrants and strengthen management of the EU's external borders, operate effectively.
Frontex called for 775 additional border guards to be deployed, “the largest number of border guards Frontex has ever requested in the history of the agency”, the agency said in a press release. The new officers are to assist mainly Italy and Greece in the registration and identification of migrants coming from Libya and Turkey, Frontex continues.
EASO launched a call for 374 additional experts to be deployed in Italy and Greece. In a press release, the Valetta-based office also states that this is “the largest number of experts which has ever been requested in the history of the agency”. The task of these experts, who will assist EASO staff, will be to help national authorities to process asylum requests, implement relocation measures, support the registration process and help detect possible document fraud. EASO has already sent a dozen experts to Italy, mainly to Lampedusa and Agrigento, and one to Greece.
Frontex says that, since the beginning of this year, over 470,000 migrants have arrived in Greece and Italy alone. “No country can possibly handle such high migratory pressure at its borders by itself. It is crucial that all those arriving in the EU are properly registered and identified”, said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri in a press release. Specifically, Frontex has requested 670 officers - mainly screeners, debriefers and interpreters - to be deployed in Italy and Greece, and 105 officers to be deployed at various external land borders of the European Union.
EU home affairs ministers, meeting in Luxembourg this week, will also discuss strengthening the EU's external borders and the funding given to Frontex to complete this task. One of the options would be to move towards “shared management” of EU borders, a diplomatic source suggested on Monday morning. The new European corps of border guards, on which the Commission will bring forward proposals before the end of the year, will also be at the heart of the discussions, though the member states have yet to show any appetite for a project that, while it has long been spoken about, is likely to become reality only in the long term, suggested the source.
A technical-level meeting was held at the Commission on Monday 5 October, to discuss needs and calls to member states to participate. At this meeting, the member states are thought to have indicated willingness to look favourably on the Frontex and EASO requests. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)