Geneva, Europe Brief News – Euro Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement “The EU is proposing to send Frontex guards and drones to Senegal for migration containment, forced return and border externalisation”.
Just before the sixth European union-African union summit in Brussels, Ylva Johansson proposed to Senegal a status agreement with frontex. The EU border agency will have responsibility to station teams of standing corpses and technical equipment to fight smugglers.
If the Dakar government agrees with this plan, it would be the first time the world will witness Frontex deployment outside the Europe region. Johnassen said “This is the first time ever that we have this kind of cooperation with a country in Africa”.
We have seen the frontex intervention in third world countries before senegal as frontex Frontex Guards were deployed in Albania in 2019, Montenegro in 2020 and Serbia in 2021 but this will be the first time that frontex will be operating in the country that does not directly border the EU.
Senegal Interest In The Deal
Senegal’s Interior Minister gave importance to this proposal and asked for a technical discussion. If the proposed plan gets approved, the frontex team, drones and surveillance will be sent to Senegal very next summer.
The main goal is to prevent smugglers from reaching Canary Island as smugglers mostly use Dakar as the departure point for the Atlantic route. This way , the authorities will be able to stop them from leaving Senegal to get to spain.
During the last month, Spain has taken strict actions and adjusted the rules to several countries of origin, including Senegal to improve their surveillance on borders to stop departures.
The proposal says “ Linking the deployment of development aid to increase the ability to control Senegal border and stop emigrating to Europe, the proposal is immersed in exploitation and imbalance of power”.
Senegal is among 15 founding countries of the Economic Community of West African states. This was created to regulate the free movement of people and goods in West Africa in 1975.
This plan represents a new and tougher solution of migration contaminants and externalisation of borders and the same plan is being used by the council member states including Denmark and the UK.
This can be a viable way of tackling smuggling and improving the living conditions in the countries of origin.
