• EU pays for surveillance in Gulf of Tunis

    A new monitoring system for Tunisian coasts should counter irregular migration across the Mediterranean. The German Ministry of the Interior is also active in the country. A similar project in Libya has now been completed. Human rights organisations see it as an aid to „#pull_backs“ contrary to international law.

    In order to control and prevent migration, the European Union is supporting North African states in border surveillance. The central Mediterranean Sea off Malta and Italy, through which asylum seekers from Libya and Tunisia want to reach Europe, plays a special role. The EU conducts various operations in and off these countries, including the military mission „#Irini“ and the #Frontex mission „#Themis“. It is becoming increasingly rare for shipwrecked refugees to be rescued by EU Member States. Instead, they assist the coast guards in Libya and Tunisia to bring the people back. Human rights groups, rescue organisations and lawyers consider this assistance for „pull backs“ to be in violation of international law.

    With several measures, the EU and its member states want to improve the surveillance off North Africa. Together with Switzerland, the EU Commission has financed a two-part „#Integrated_Border_Management Project“ in Tunisia. It is part of the reform of the security sector which was begun a few years after the fall of former head of state Ben Ali in 2011. With one pillar of this this programme, the EU wants to „prevent criminal networks from operating“ and enable the authorities in the Gulf of Tunis to „save lives at sea“.

    System for military and border police

    The new installation is entitled „#Integrated_System_for_Maritime_Surveillance“ (#ISMariS) and, according to the Commission (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-000891-ASW_EN.html), is intended to bring together as much information as possible from all authorities involved in maritime and coastal security tasks. These include the Ministry of Defence with the Navy, the Coast Guard under the Ministry of the Interior, the National Guard, and IT management and telecommunications authorities. The money comes from the #EU_Emergency_Trust_Fund_for_Africa, which was established at the Valletta Migration Summit in 2015. „ISMariS“ is implemented by the Italian Ministry of the Interior and follows on from an earlier Italian initiative. The EU is financing similar projects with „#EU4BorderSecurity“ not only in Tunisia but also for other Mediterranean countries.

    An institute based in Vienna is responsible for border control projects in Tunisia. Although this #International_Centre_for_Migration_Policy_Development (ICMPD) was founded in 1993 by Austria and Switzerland, it is not a governmental organisation. The German Foreign Office has also supported projects in Tunisia within the framework of the #ICMPD, including the establishment of border stations and the training of border guards. Last month German finally joined the Institute itself (https://www.andrej-hunko.de/start/download/dokumente/1493-deutscher-beitritt-zum-international-centre-for-migration-policy-development/file). For an annual contribution of 210,000 euro, the Ministry of the Interior not only obtains decision-making privileges for organizing ICMPD projects, but also gives German police authorities the right to evaluate any of the Institute’s analyses for their own purposes.

    It is possible that in the future bilateral German projects for monitoring Tunisian maritime borders will also be carried out via the ICMPD. Last year, the German government supplied the local coast guard with equipment for a boat workshop. In the fourth quarter of 2019 alone (http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/19/194/1919467.pdf), the Federal Police carried out 14 trainings for the national guard, border police and coast guard, including instruction in operating „control boats“. Tunisia previously received patrol boats from Italy and the USA (https://migration-control.info/en/wiki/tunisia).

    Vessel tracking and coastal surveillance

    It is unclear which company produced and installed the „ISMariS“ surveillance system for Tunisia on behalf of the ICPMD. Similar facilities for tracking and displaying ship movements (#Vessel_Tracking_System) are marketed by all major European defence companies, including #Airbus, #Leonardo in Italy, #Thales in France and #Indra in Spain. However, Italian project management will probably prefer local companies such as Leonardo. The company and its spin-off #e-GEOS have a broad portfolio of maritime surveillance systems (https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/sea/maritime-domain-awareness/coastal-surveillance-systems).

    It is also possible to integrate satellite reconnaissance, but for this the governments must conclude further contracts with the companies. However, „ISMariS“ will not only be installed as a Vessel Tracking System, it should also enable monitoring of the entire coast. Manufacturers promote such #Coastal_Surveillance_Systems as a technology against irregular migration, piracy, terrorism and smuggling. The government in Tunisia has defined „priority coastal areas“ for this purpose, which will be integrated into the maritime surveillance framework.

    Maritime „#Big_Data

    „ISMariS“ is intended to be compatible with the components already in place at the Tunisian authorities, including coastguard command and control systems, #radar, position transponders and receivers, night vision equipment and thermal and optical sensors. Part of the project is a three-year maintenance contract with the company installing the „ISMariS“.

    Perhaps the most important component of „ISMariS“ for the EU is a communication system, which is also included. It is designed to improve „operational cooperation“ between the Tunisian Coast Guard and Navy with Italy and other EU Member States. The project description mentions Frontex and EUROSUR, the pan-European surveillance system of the EU Border Agency, as possible participants. Frontex already monitors the coastal regions off Libya and Tunisia (https://insitu.copernicus.eu/FactSheets/CSS_Border_Surveillance) using #satellites (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-8-2018-003212-ASW_EN.html) and an aerial service (https://digit.site36.net/2020/06/26/frontex-air-service-reconnaissance-for-the-so-called-libyan-coast-guar).

    #EUROSUR is now also being upgraded, Frontex is spending 2.6 million Euro (https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:109760-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML) on a new application based on artificial intelligence. It is to process so-called „Big Data“, including not only ship movements but also data from ship and port registers, information on ship owners and shipping companies, a multi-year record of previous routes of large ships and other maritime information from public sources on the Internet. The contract is initially concluded for one year and can be extended up to three times.

    Cooperation with Libya

    To connect North African coastguards to EU systems, the EU Commission had started the „#Seahorse_Mediterranean“ project two years after the fall of North African despots. To combat irregular migration, from 2013 onwards Spain, Italy and Malta have trained a total of 141 members of the Libyan coast guard for sea rescue. In this way, „Seahorse Mediterranean“ has complemented similar training measures that Frontex is conducting for the Coastal Police within the framework of the EU mission #EUBAM_Libya and the military mission #EUNAVFOR_MED for the Coast Guard of the Tripolis government.

    The budget for „#Seahorse_Mediterranean“ is indicated by the Commission as 5.5 million Euro (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-000892-ASW_EN.html), the project was completed in January 2019. According to the German Foreign Office (http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/19/196/1919625.pdf), Libya has signed a partnership declaration for participation in a future common communication platform for surveillance of the Mediterranean. Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt are also to be persuaded to participate. So far, however, the governments have preferred unilateral EU support for equipping and training their coastguards and navies, without having to make commitments in projects like „Seahorse“, such as stopping migration and smuggling on the high seas.

    https://digit.site36.net/2020/06/28/eu-pays-for-surveillance-in-gulf-of-tunis

    #Golfe_de_Tunis #surveillance #Méditerranée #asile #migrations #réfugiés #militarisation_des_frontières #surveillance_des_frontières #Tunisie #externalisation #complexe_militaro-industriel #Algérie #Egypte #Suisse #EU #UE #Union_européenne #Trust_Fund #Emergency_Trust_Fund_for_Africa #Allemagne #Italie #gardes-côtes #gardes-côtes_tunisiens #intelligence_artificielle #IA #données #Espagne #Malte #business

    ping @reka @isskein @_kg_ @rhoumour @karine4

    –—

    Ajouté à cette métaliste sur l’externalisation des frontières :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/731749#message765330

    Et celle-ci sur le lien entre développement et contrôles frontaliers :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/733358#message768701

  • Andrej Hunko : Berichte von der Venezuela-Reise
    https://www.andrej-hunko.de/en/start-3/aktuell/4517-berichte-von-der-venezuela-reise
    Written on 23 April 2019. Posted in Aktuell

    Vom 16. bis 27. April befindet sich Andrej Hunko in Venezuela, um sich dort ein Bild von der Lage zu machen und politische Gespräche zu führen. Hauptinteresse bei der Reise sind die humanitäre Situation sowie Möglichkeiten für eine friedliche Lösung der politischen Krise. (siehe Pressemitteilung vom 16. April) An dieser Stelle werden unregelmäßig Berichte von der Reise veröffentlicht. Die neuesten Beiträge erscheinen oben.

    Freitag, 26.04.2019: Gesprächspartnerinnen und -partner in Venezuela

    Im Laufe des Venezuela-Besuchs ist eine recht lange Liste an Gesprächspartnerinnen und Gesprächspartnern zusammengekommen. Diese dokumentieren wir an dieser Stelle (noch unvollständig) und ergänzen sie ggf. bis zum Ende der Reise am morgigen Samstag:

    Daniela Vogl (Geschäftsträgerin Deutsche Botschaft)
    Baltazar Porras (Erzbischof von Mérida)
    Laetitia Courtois (Leiterin des Internationalen Komitees vom Roten Kreuz in Venezuela)
    Rafael Uzcátegui (General-Koordinator der Menschenrechtsorganisation Provea)
    Jorge Arreaza (Außenminister)
    Oly Millán, Héctor Navarro, Gustavo Márquez (Plattform zur Verteidigung der Verfassung)
    Andrés Antillano (Movimiento de Pobladores)
    Antonio González Plessman (Menschenrechtsorganisation SurGentes)
    Carolus Wimmer (Kommunistische Partei, PCV)
    Tania Díaz (Regierungspartei PSUV)
    Edgar Zambrano (Oppositionspartei Acción Demócratica, Vizepräsident der Nationalversammlung)
    Henry Ramos Allup (Oppositionspartei Acción Democrática, Generalsekretär)
    Juan Guaidó (Oppositionspartei Voluntad Popular, Parlamentspräsident)
    Luis Augusto Romero (Oppositionspartei Avanzada Progresista, Generalsekretär)
    Nicolás Maduro (Präsident)
    José Federico Hernández (Leiter Panamerikanische Gesundheitsorganisation der UNO (PAHO/OPS))
    Projekt “El Otro Beta” im Armenviertel Petare
    Fr: Antonio Aranibar (Mitarbeiter von Peter Grohmann, Koordinator der acht UN-Organisationen in Venezuela)
    Sa: Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa (EU-Vertreterin in Venezuela)

    Mittwoch, 24. April 2019: Treffen mit Präsident Maduro und Parlamentspräsident Guaidó

    Habe gestern den Präsidenten der boliviarischen Republik Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, getroffen und die Solidarität mit dem venezolanischen Volk gegenüber Wirtschaftssanktionen und Kriegsdrohungen zum Ausdruck gebracht.

    Wir hatten einen langen Austausch über die internationale Lage und insbesondere über die Erosion des Völkerrechts. Maduro betonte die Unrechtmäßigkeit der Sanktionen und der Beschlagnahmungen venezolanischen Vermögens durch internationale Banken auf Druck der USA, die die Lage im Land verschlimmert.

    Ich habe meinen Wunsch verdeutlicht, dass Venezuela keine NO-Go-Area werden darf und dass ich deshalb erwarte, dass viele Abgeordnete, Journalisten und interessierte Menschen das Land in dieser schwierigen Zeit besuchen würden und sich ein umfassendes Bild der Lage machen. Maduro sagte, alle seien willkommen.

    Im Vorfeld hatte ich den Parlamentspräsidenten Juan Gaidó und weitere hochrangige Vertreter der Opposition getroffen. Habe dort meine Überzeugung zum Ausdruck gebracht, dass eine Lösung der Krise nur friedlich und dialogisch sein kann. Guaidó stellte mir verschiedene Gewerkschaftsführer vor, die in Opposition zur Regierung stehen. Im Anschluss nahm ich als Beobachter an einer Parlamentssitzung teil.

    Was die Chancen auf Dialog angeht, gab es gemischte Signale: Maduro sagte, dass er immer für Dialog sei, auch mit dem Teufel, dass er noch im November und Dezember mit vier hochrangigen Oppositionsvertretern verhandelt habe, dass solche Gespräche aber sinnlos seien, wenn sie, wie zuletzt, auf Druck der USA abgebrochen würden. Einige Vertreter der Opposition sahen in Verhandlungen nur einen Zeitgewinn für die Regierung.

    Unabhängig von der Beurteilung der schwierigen, komplexen, teilweise auch erschütternden politischen und wirtschaftlichen Lage im Lande, halte ich es für wichtig international für ein Ende der Sanktionen und Drohungen einzutreten. Eine Lösung der Krise kann nicht gewaltsam von außen herbei geführt werden.

    #Venezuela #Allemagne #gauche #politique #sanctions #boycott #impérialisme