Quelle: Frontex

Frontex asks for 775 border guards

Today Frontex launched a call for 775 additional border guards to be deployed at the external borders of the European Union.

This is the largest number of border guards Frontex has ever requested in the history of the agency.

The officers are to assist mainly Italy and Greece in the registration and identification of migrants coming from Libya and Turkey.

„Since the beginning of this year over 470 000 migrants 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.

Frontex requested 670 officers – mainly screeners, debriefers and interpreters to be deployed in Italy and Greece, in addition to 105 officers to be deployed at various external land borders of the European Union.

The screening officers play a key role in helping authorities to determine the nationality of the incoming migrants in order to identify and register them. Debriefers gather information about the activities of smuggling networks.