Drones may Track Migrants

By Apostolis Fotiadis

The notice appeared quietly on the website of Frontex, Europe’s agency to fight undocumented migration. It called for expressions of interest in demonstrating „Small UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and Fixed systems for Land border surveillance“ at its workshop.

„In the domain of land border surveillance, there is a wide spectrum of possible technical means that can be employed to provide effective surveillance including: daylight and infrared cameras, ground radars, fixed ground sensors, mobile systems, manned aircraft and satellites,“ the notice read.

„However, it is clear that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) could also play an important role in further enhancing border surveillance in the future, though they face a number of technical and other challenges.“

Cautious as this sounds, Frontex has been particularly interested in introducing UAVs, or Drones as they are more popularly known, for European border surveillance. Frontex spokesman Michal Parzyszek says the agency has researched this possibility extensively this year. (more on ipsnews.net)