Operations in the Western Balkans Operations in the Western Balkans 2016-10-10 The record number of migrants arriving in Greece in 2015 and in the first quarter of 2016 had a direct knock-on effect on the Western Balkan route, as the people who entered the EU via Greece tried to make their way via the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, Serbia into Hungary and Croatia and then towards western Europe. This led to unprecedented numbers of detections of illegal crossings at Hungary’s and Croatia’s borders with Serbia. Read more
Joint Operation Poseidon (Greece) Joint Operation Poseidon (Greece) 2016-10-10 Frontex supports Greece with almost 700 guest officers, who perform border surveillance, assist in the identification and registration of incoming migrants, as well as debriefing and screening. Read more
Joint Operation Triton (Italy) Joint Operation Triton (Italy) 2016-10-10 While the primary focus of Operation Triton, which was launched in November 2014, is border control and surveillance, search and rescue remains a priority for the agency. Since the beginning of the operation, Frontex vessels and aircrafts have on regularly been redirected by the Italian Coast Guard to assist migrants in distress. Read more
The role of Frontex in Search and Rescue The role of Frontex in Search and Rescue 2016-07-07 International law obliges all captains of vessels to provide assistance to any persons found in distress at sea. SAR is also a specific objective of the operational plan of every Frontex joint maritime operation. For this reason, vessels deployed by Frontex to an operational area are always ready to provide support to the national authorities in SAR operations. Read more
Profiting from misery – how smugglers bring people to Europe Profiting from misery – how smugglers bring people to Europe 2016-02-18 With more than a million migrants arriving on the Greek and Italian shores last year, it is estimated that people smuggling networks made more than 4 billion Euros from their criminal activities. Most of the profits from smuggling migrants are used by criminal organisations to fund other illicit undertakings, such as the sale of illegal drugs and weapons. Below we present the key facts about the two main routes used by criminal gangs to smuggle people, often under deplorable conditions, into Europe. Read more
Rapid Border Intervention Teams In Greece Rapid Border Intervention Teams In Greece 2016-01-28 At the request of the Greek authorities for additional assistance at its external borders in the Aegean Frontex launched the deployment of some 400 officers and 15 vessels to the Greek islands on 29 December 2015. Poseidon Rapid Intervention replaced Joint Operation Poseidon Sea with a higher number of officers to assist the Greek authorities in border surveillance, identification and fingerprinting of arriving migrants. The deployment also includes forged document experts and interpreters. Read more
