Frontex border patrols in the Mediterranean will commence this week, with the participation of military units from five EU member states. The border patrols, set to control the influx of illegal immigrants crossing over from North Africa to Europe, will last two weeks.
The mission will involve both sea and air patrolling and will cover the crucial area between Italy, Malta and Libya. According to The Times, head of the EU's border control agency Frontex Ikka Laitinen said that the patrols will kick off "before the beginning of the weekend".
The key players of the operation will be Maltese and Italian military boats, supported by French planes and vessels, Greek planes and German helicopters. The two-week mission is expected to cost the EU over Lm516,488 (€1.2 million, US$1.5 million).
Initially it was expected that Libya would participate in the patrols, however it didn’t. This effected both the time it took to start the patrols as well as their modus operandi. Ikka Laitinen told The Times that "Since Libya is not participating, we had to change the modus operandi of the mission, including the operational area we will patrol. We will not be so close to the southern coast (Libya) as we intended to be."
The name of the patrols have also been changed from Jason 1 to Nautilus after the original plans for the patrols were heavily modified due to Libya's lack of support.
Read more about this issue on MaltaMedia's special feature:
Lanċa Ġejja u Oħra Sejra: Malta and its migrations.
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