Between 16 and 22 of April, the Immigration and Borders Service conducted the HIO “Balder” – High Impact Operation – under the Presidency of the EU coordinated by Denmark.
This operation had the participation of 26 States of the European Union and of the Schengen area (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Slovakia, Estonia, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway), with SEF representing Portugal.
“BALDER” operation’s main goal was to collect information on migratory flows within the Member States, concerning, for example, the migratory pressure suffered in the various countries, the main routes of illegal immigrants, the countries of origin of migrants, the main countries of destination of migratory flows, the spots for detecting illegal immigrants and the means of transport used by those, such as automobiles, buses, trains, boats and aircrafts.
This operation was conducted nationwide, including mainland and islands, and involved all Regional Directorates and their Delegations, the Central Directorate for Borders, Air and Maritime Border Posts and the Police and Customs Operation Centres (CCPA’s).
There were monitoring actions covering air, maritime, road and railway traffic channels. Air monitoring focused on Schengen and domestic flights, both in airports and aerodromes. Maritime monitoring included actions in national ports, international zones, marinas and small harbours. Road monitoring was conducted in the major routes into national territory and in bus terminals. Railway monitoring covered the major connections with Spain and France, and the national terminals, such as the Cascais Railway Station and the Oporto underground stations.
Some of the actions described integrated other entities, such as the National Guard (GNR), the Public Police (PSP), the Criminal Police (PJ), the Maritime Police, the Labour Inspectorate and a Spanish counter-part: Cuerpo Nacional de Policia. During a total of 355 monitoring actions, 27.130 passengers from 119 different nationalities were checked, with third country nationals representing 15% of this number.
By category, 16.284 citizens were checked in air control, 2.533 passengers in maritime control, 7.693 passengers in road control, and 944 passengers in railway control. 663 officers form SEF were involved in this high impact operation.
The outcome of these actions included 13 detentions, 1 of which for failing to comply with an expulsion order, and the remaining for carrying false documents, for irregular permanence in National Territory, and 6 citizens were readmitted into Spain. 25 foreign citizens were notified to abandon national territory, and another 7 were summoned to appear in SEF’s bureau. 18 administrative offense proceedings were initiated comprehending values of € 6.534,00 to€ 19.530,00
Source: http://www.sef.pt/portal/v10/EN/aspx/noticias/Noticias_Detalhe.aspx?id_linha=6172
