FRONTEX WATCH

The cabinet had approved draft of the Re-Admission Agreement in february 2007 to safeguard its economic interests because the country was unable to benefit from the Third Generation Cooperation Agreement in the absence of such an agreement.

“If this agreement is not signed, Pakistani trade will be at risk in the EU,” the sources said, quoting the trade minister. They said the cabinet was told that the EU had agreed to encourage its member states to enhance migration quotas for Pakistanis. “The negotiations for the proposed Re-Admission Agreement draft almost broke down thrice in the past on the issue of re-admission of ‘third-country’ or ‘stateless’ people to Pakistan. The agreement was finalized only after the prime minister stopped insisting on exclusion of a clause related to the ‘third-country’ and ‘stateless’ people,” they said. They said all illegal Pakistani migrants would be re-admitted after confirmation of their nationality while the Pakistani government would take 60 days to investigate and determine the nationality of non-Pakistanis. “No one will be re-admitted merely on the basis of evidence of his nationality,” they said. They added that the agreement would not have retrospective effect and would be applicable from the time of its ratification by both sides.

According to Mubarak Zeb Khan of the newspaper Dawn the immediate impact of the agreement would be a large-scale deportation of Pakistanis from Europe, which may have a negative impact on remittances and may also create social problems.
The agreement has not been signed yet.

more from the Daily Times , March 4, 2007

The European Data Protection Supervisor’s Annual Report 2006 has been published.
Eurodac is a (First Pillar) European fingerprint database for identifying asylum seekers and irregular border-crossers and according to a 2004 Commission leaflet designed solely to identify asylum seekers. The EDPS is the competent authority that monitors the activities of Eurodac’s Central Unit.
Reflecting the data protection rules to safeguard the rights of the data subject to access his/her own data, Article 18 paragraph 2 of the Eurodac regulation provides for a possibility to conduct ‘special searches’ on request of the person concerned whose data are stored in the central database.

The number of “special searches” ranged from 1 to 611 across all Member States in 2004. The important increase compared to last year was mainly due to two Member States while a few other Member States continued to apply this provision frequently. The surprisingly high numbers of such transactions in 2005 varied from zero to 781 per Member State.
This category of transactions has been used extensively by some states; the figures did not match the actual number of requests for access made by individuals. This raised the question of their actual use.

The second phase of the Eurodac supervision — an in-depth security audit — started at the end of September 2006.
In application of Regulation (EC) No 2004/46, the EDPS requested ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency) to provide contacts with national experts in the Member States and to deliver advice on the methodology of the security audit. An audit team consisting of EDPS, German and French experts, has been set up. Based on a detailed and interactive presentation of the system and the situation given by the Eurodac helpdesk, the audit team adopted the IT-Grundschutz methodology developed by the BSI (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik) in order to conduct this audit under the mandate of the EDPS. The final report of the audit is expected in the spring of 2007…

A proposal by Germany to also open up for law enforcement the databases of Eurodac was discussed at a 12/13 April 2007 meeting of the Police Cooperation Working Party.

Maltese troops will be deployed to the new Frontex-led border control operation “Poseidon”, aimed at combating illegal immigration in the Aegean Sea between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey.

more from MaltaMedia News

EU interior and justice ministers in an agreement in Luxembourg in April 2006 had increased the Schengen visa fee from 35 euros to 60 euros for 15 countries, including Turkey, Algeria and Morocco. The new fee started to be implemented Jan.1, 2007. The EU then stated the fee increase was not applicable for Russia, while Ukraine and the Balkan countries were given a deadline of one year to make the necessary arrangements before facing the EU’s new standards. Shortly before the deadline, however, a new deal was made with four Balkan countries, excluding Serbia, under which the visa fee was decreased.

Macedonia signed the agreement in Brussels on Friday (13 April) while Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro signing up on the sidelines of a meeting in the Croatian capital Zagreb between internal and justice ministers of south eastern Europe on Saturday (14 April).

more from Today’s Zaman and EU Observer

The German Government was asked about the mass deportation of migrants from Rabat/ Morocco to the desert at the Algerian border in december 2006, which - the Moroccan Government claimed - happened in accordance with decisions of the African-European summit in Rabat in july 2006.

The most interesting points from the answer:

Development aid to Morocco in 2005/2006:

Antwort auf kleine Anfrage, 27.04.2007 Drucksache 16/4833

Two boats with 31 african immigrants, mostly Algerian nationals, landed last week on the spanish island Mallorca. Another two boats came in september 2006 and january 2007.

The regional gouvernor Jaume Matas is concerned that the Balear Islands may be the new “door to Europe”. The journey seems easier and shorter than to the Canary Islands, especially given the extensive surveillance of the westafrican coast by Frontex .

more from islacanaria.net