7pm, at LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1ES

In the course of one decade the EU external border has shifted one hundred kilometres to the East and to the South, has deterritorialised increasingly, and its guarding is becoming a European common task. FRONTEX, the "European Agency for the management of operational cooperation at the external borders," became operative in 2005. It works with rapid speed towards a pan European model of border security.

FRONTEX does research on migrants' movements (risk analysis) and develops new high tech forms of border control; it provides the training of border guards and arranges their equipment for reconnaissance and surveillance; it operates sea and land patrols and is expanding yearly its jointly organised deportation flights; it builds cooperations with so-called 'Third States,' like Ukraine or Senegal, in order to include them in Europe's efforts to seal its borders; and it will play a central role in the about-to-be established European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) that will function as a central hub for Europe's information systems and data banks.

Edgar Beugels, Head Research and Development Unit of Frontex, at the "Policing the borders" conference 23rd March 2010, London, stated:

"We don't need additional systems for data and identification storage, we need to use the existing data, and build up the records we have, until we have a file of each person."

"In the future, Frontex should take over coordination of the Integrated Border Management System, which will not only deal with migration management, but also include aspects of security and customs."

Frontex's ambitions will affect the freedom of movement of migrants and activists alike.

At this infonight we will look at the short history of Frontex, its current activities, and its relationship with the UK. We close off the evening with further information on upcoming activist responses like the NoBorder Camp in Brussels 25th September - 3rd October 2010 .

Links: | Frontex | Frontexwatch |