Is Europe Turning into a Technological Fortresss? Innovation and Technology for the Management of Eu's External Borders. Reflections on Frontex and Eurosur

Spy, track and archive: The temporality of visibility in Eurosur and Jora

“…If monitoring and mapping devices are not completely missing from scholarship on security and migration (Jeandesboz, 2011;Heller and Pezzani, 2014;Marin, 2011;Seiffarth, 2012), they are however mainly studied through a reading of EU documents or interviews conducted with the actors who manage those dispositives, while far less attention has been paid to their effective functioning. In particular, as Dijstelbloem et al (2017: 225) rightly stress, what is missing in the literature is a 'political topology that is not wholly structured by a "surveillance apparatus", but which transacts the workings of such an apparatus with migrants, vessels and tactics at sea'.…”

Frontex and the evolution of European border control

“…Regarding the capacity building division, the work of the Research and Innovation unit is pivotal. In particular, Frontex is rather active in exploring innovative technologies for efficient border management, namely border check and border surveillance (Marin, 2011;Frontex, 2019e). In this regard, it brings together producers and end-users organising workshops and releasing studies.…”

“…At the same time, border control technology has a dominant role in both borders. High-tech border control tools, such as automated surveillance systems, sophisticated radars and satellites have been installed and are used transforming the traditional border control conduct that was characterised by physical checks at the BCPs (Dijstelbloem & Meijer, 2011;Marin, 2011;Csernatoni, 2018). Moreover, professionalisation has been developed in the field of border control rendering it a profession and advancing the construction of a policy community of border control practitioners and professionals (Horii, 2012).…”

“…Turning to technological development, border control became synonymous to the deployment of 'state-of-the-art technology' (Regulation, 2016;Frontex, 2019xx). Technologically mediated border checks, sophisticated monitoring devices, high-tech vehicles and automated systems reconfigure border control and construct borders as 'technological fortresses' (Marin, 2011) or 'cyber-fortresses' (Guild et al, 2008); whilst multiplying them by expanding both the geographic border area and the time window for border control (Glouftsios, 2018). Last border control practice is professionalisation.…”