The European Commission has made a selection of 10 concrete examples out of the many areas where the EU is active. Each one demonstrates in a different way what the EU has done in 2006 to promote economic and social well-being of EU citizens, how it has acted to protect the environment or how it is increasingly helping out in global hot spots. One of the 10 is tackling illegal immigration in Europe with significant contribution of Frontex :
“For the first time, the EU coordinated two joint sea operations in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea, in an attempt to deal with illegal immigration. This was a very tangible expression of ‘solidarity in action’ among EU countries, helping each other with rescue equipment, staff and knowledge.
The operations were coordinated by Frontex, the new EU agency that organises practical cooperation in questions of border control.
The operations were not about building ‘Fortress Europe’. They were of a humanitarian character and were aimed at saving lives at sea, as well as reducing illegal immigration and combating trafficking in human beings, a crime from which only the traffickers benefit.
Practical tasks form part of a wider EU approach to migration, in particular from Africa. This includes questions like possibilities for legal migration, whilst avoiding the ‘brain drain’ when educated citizens leave poorer countries. The idea is for the EU to provide support to give would-be immigrants the chance of a better future in their home country. The EU also helps refugees to get access to international protection more quickly and tailored to their needs. The EU is developing partnerships with countries of origin and transit in Africa to deal with these matters in a mutually beneficial way”.
Source: ec.europa.eu/snapshot2006/immigration/immigration_en.htm