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The Frontex-coordinated Focal Points were established to offer longer-term exchanges of border guards at key point at the external borders. Working in other member states together with peers from different backgrounds and facing different challenges provides a unique opportunity for officers to exchange experience and different approaches to the job; a vital element in the development of individual officers and of best practice in the field.

As of 2014, Frontex coordinates joint operations (JOs) at 10 focal points activated at sea ports across nine host countries. Stretching from Porto on the Atlantic coast of Portugal to the Bulgarian  port of Varna on the Black Sea and Tallinn and Helsinki on the Baltic, each border crossing point (BCP) encounters a unique series of incidents, making it difficult to observe a ‘main trend’ across  the entire operation.

Each Focal Point  is activated to assist local authorities with border checks in order to better manage the flow of irregular migration. In general, two guest officers are deployed to each BCP, with operations ranging from one to six months each. However, Poul Brix Bjerregaard, a Danish police officer and now a Frontex operations officer, is keen to highlight that JO Focal Points Sea does not only deal with irregular migration.

The JO also focuses on deterring the movement of smuggled goods such as stolen cars and illegal drugs. For instance in May 2014, Spanish police tracked a shipment of cocaine – worth EUR 2.5 million – from Algeciras is southern Spain before making a seizure in Madrid. The cocaine, which had been transported from Morocco, had been hidden among packages of pineapples.

"The request [to host an operation] must come from the member state," says Bjerregaard, emphasising that the activation of every focal point is based on the needs and wishes of each of the nine hosting  member states. In general, first-line officers — the border guards the travelling public first encounter at a border crossing — are in demand by member states for focal points as they already have first-hand experience of conducting on-the-spot checks at border crossings. 

Algeciras: a hot-bed of activity

Situated only 50 km from the Moroccan port of Tangier, Algeciras is the second biggest port in Spain, and one of the busiest in the Europe. It is also targeted each year by thousands of people seeking to enter Europe without passing through border controls. This makes Algeciras the busiest of Frontex’s focal points. The Spanish port is also a transit point into the EU for drugs and other contraband.

During JO Focal Points Sea 2013, BCP Algeciras recorded 197 cases of attempted ‘clandestine entry’ – either  individuals or groups hiding in vehicles – as well as 18 incidents of goods smuggling, most frequently hashish being brought into the EU or stolen cars being smuggled out by ferry. And the focal point there was only active during low season for Algeciras; the figures for the full year were much higher.

 But maintaining a successful focal point is not only about the incidents, says Bjerregaard. They are also a “great platform for sharing experience and for monitoring trends.”