THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
Frontex has significantly developed and proven its added value to the EU’s humanitarian objectives
Frontex and the crisis in the Mediterranean by Ilkka Laitinen, Brig Gen, Executive Director, FRONTEX, Warsaw Frontex is no stranger to the Mediterranean. Since the Agency became operational in 2005, the southern maritime border has been one of the most important theatres for its operational activities. Today the EU’s southern neighbourhood is undergoing unprecedented changes. Nevertheless, from an EU bordermanagement perspective the situation can be described very much as “business as usual.”
Frontex is the largest European search and rescue organisation
Brig Gen Ilkka Laitinen is Executive Director, FRONTEX, Warsaw He was born in Nurmes, Finland, on August 22, 1962. He became promoted Brigadier General Boarder Guard in 2006. Deputy Head of Division, Frontier Guard HQ (Director of International Affairs) 2002 − 2005; Counsellor (Justice and Home Affairs), Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union 2000 – 2002; Coordinator of the Frontier Guard Headquarters on Schengen and EU affairs 1998 − 2000; National representative at the Council WP Schengen Evaluation 1999 − 2005; Director of the EU Risk Analysis Centre (RAC) 2003 − 2005
Socio-political events in North Africa and the Middle East − the so-called “Arab Spring” of popular uprisings − have focused public and media attention on the plight of irregular migrants and the dangers of migrants at sea. The public has been rightly the governments of Italy and Libya − has now re-opened. But shocked by media footage of horrifically over-crowded and due to the political context of this reopening, the situation − unseaworthy vessels, dramatic search-and-rescue operations, and Frontex’s operational response to it − is very different. and deaths at sea. But for the border-control authorities of the Member States affected, and for the crews involved in FrontexThe Arab Spring and the new state of migration coordinated operations at sea, such scenes are all too familiar. With the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, the situation on Frontex is Europe’s largest search-and-rescue organisation, the EU’s southern maritime border started to significantly and saving lives at sea has always been one of the central change. That there would be an increase in both for irregular pillars of the Agency’s operational focus. The large numbers of economic migrants and refugees was to a large degree prepeople (tens of thousands) attempting the perilous and often dictable. Just what form and fatal journey from West Africa direction it would take was to the Canary islands before not. Frontex’s Risk Analysis 2006 were what sparked Hera, “Prevention is always better Unit, Situation Centre and Joint the first-ever Frontex Joint than a cure.” Operations Unit were stretched Operation. This operation, like never before to create a which is still running and has comprehensive range of possible future scenarios and approbeen supplemented by Hera II, was largely responsible for priate operational responses for short-, medium- and longclosing down the West African route and preventing not only term border management needs. Although many of these have illegal migration into the EU, but also countless unnecessary since been discarded, the challenge of predicting likely future deaths on the high seas. patterns is an ongoing one. Indeed, it is an important part of Frontex’s founding mandate to provide such a situational picCriminal networks ture to Member States and other stakeholders. This is one of The facilitators and criminal networks responsible for people the ways in which, behind the scenes, the Agency is supportsmuggling are not easily deterred, however. As one route is ing its partners and adding value to Member States’ activities. shut down another emerges, and the pattern of migration Although Frontex is most visible to the public through operachanges rather than stops. The routes change, the numbers tional activities such as last year’s RABIT Operation, what we change, but the phenomenon itself remains remarkably stable. as an agency provide behind the scenes is of vital importance. Since the closure of the West African route, the channels have progressively shifted east, first to the Central Mediterranean Intelligence versus efficiency (Libya-Italy) then to the Aegean (Turkey-Greece), and then to Any operation is only as good as the intelligence on which it is the Greek-Turkish land border in the Evros river region, where based. It is for this reason that the Agency has invested a great Frontex conducted its first-ever Rapid Border Intervention deal of money and effort into creating a state-of-the-art SituaTeam (RABIT) deployment. The Central Mediterranean route − tion Centre where all aspects of the current situation are once effectively closed through a bilateral agreement between
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