Page 29 - bon-dia-aruba-20210601

A29
world news Diamars 1 Juni 2021

In post-pandemic Europe, migrants will face digital fortress

(AP) — As the world begins to travel again, Europe more than a dozen projects at Greek borders. ropeans as well. And that’s why everybody should
is sending migrants a loud message: Stay away! care, in their own self-interest,” Breyer of the Ger-
AI-powered lie detectors and virtual border-guard man Pirates Party told the AP.
Greek border police are firing bursts of deafening interview bots have been piloted, as well as efforts
noise from an armored truck over the frontier into to integrate satellite data with footage from drones He urged authorities to allow broad oversight of
Turkey. Mounted on the vehicle, the long-range on land, air, sea and underwater. Palm scanners re- border surveillance methods to review ethical
acoustic device, or “sound cannon,” is the size of cord the unique vein pattern in a person’s hand to concerns and prevent the sale of the technology
a small TV set but can match the volume of a jet use as a biometric identifier, and the makers of live through private partners to authoritarian regimes
engine. camera reconstruction technology promise to erase outside the EU.
foliage virtually, exposing people hiding near bor-
It’s part of a vast array of physical and experimental der areas. Ella Jakubowska, of the digital rights group EDRi,
new digital barriers being installed and tested dur- argued that EU officials were adopting “techno-
ing the quiet months of the coronavirus pandemic Testing has also been conducted in Hungary, Latvia solutionism” to sideline moral considerations in
at the 200-kilometer (125-mile) Greek border and elsewhere along the eastern EU perimeter. dealing with the complex issue of migration.
with Turkey to stop people entering the European
Union illegally. The more aggressive migration strategy has been “It is deeply troubling that, time and again, EU
advanced by European policymakers over the past funds are poured into expensive technologies
A new steel wall, similar to recent construction on five years, funding deals with Mediterranean coun- which are used in ways that criminalize, experi-
the U.S.-Mexico border, blocks commonly-used tries outside the bloc to hold migrants back and ment with and dehumanize people on the move,”
crossing points along the Evros River that separates transforming the EU border protection agency, she said.
the two countries. Frontex, from a coordination mechanism to a full-
fledged multinational security force. Migration flows have slowed in many parts of Eu-
Nearby observation towers are being fitted with rope during the pandemic, interrupting an increase
long-range cameras, night vision, and multiple But regional migration deals have left the EU ex- recorded over years. In Greece, for example, the
sensors. The data will be sent to control centers posed to political pressure from neighbors. number of arrivals dropped from nearly 75,000 in
to flag suspicious movement using artificial intel- 2019 to 15,700 in 2020, a 78% decrease.
ligence analysis. Earlier this month, several thousand migrants
crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of But the pressure is sure to return. Between 2000
“We will have a clear ‘pre-border’ picture of what’s Ceuta in a single day, prompting Spain to deploy and 2020, the world’s migrant population rose by
happening,” Police Maj. Dimonsthenis Kamargios, the army. A similar crisis unfolded on the Greek- more than 80% to reach 272 million, according to
head of the region’s border guard authority, told Turkish border and lasted three weeks last year. United Nations data, fast outpacing international
the Associated Press. population growth.
Greece is pressing the EU to let Frontex patrol out-
The EU has poured 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) side its territorial waters to stop migrants reaching At the Greek border village of Poros, the breakfast
into security tech research following the refugee Lesbos and other Greek islands, the most common discussion at a cafe was about the recent crisis on
crisis in 2015-16, when more than 1 million people route in Europe for illegal crossing in recent years. the Spanish-Moroccan border.
— many escaping wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghani-
stan — fled to Greece and on to other EU coun- Armed with new tech tools, European law enforce- Many of the houses in the area are abandoned and
tries. ment authorities are leaning further outside bor- in a gradual state of collapse, and life is adjusting to
ders. that reality.
The automated surveillance network being built
on the Greek-Turkish border is aimed at detecting Not all the surveillance programs being tested will Cows use the steel wall as a barrier for the wind
migrants early and deterring them from crossing, be included in the new detection system, but hu- and rest nearby.
with river and land patrols using searchlights and man rights groups say the emerging technology
long-range acoustic devices. will make it even harder for refugees fleeing wars Panagiotis Kyrgiannis, a Poros resident, says the
and extreme hardship to find safety. wall and other preventive measures have brought
Key elements of the network will be launched by migrant crossings to a dead stop.
the end of the year, Kamargios said. “Our task is Patrick Breyer, a European lawmaker from Ger-
to prevent migrants from entering the country il- many, has taken an EU research authority to court, “We are used to seeing them cross over and come
legally. We need modern equipment and tools to demanding that details of the AI-powered lie de- through the village in groups of 80 or a 100,” he
do that.” tection program be made public. said. “We were not afraid. ... They don’t want to
settle here. All of this that’s happening around us
Researchers at universities around Europe, work- “What we are seeing at the borders, and in treating is not about us.”
ing with private firms, have developed futuristic foreign nationals generally, is that it’s often a test-
surveillance and verification technology, and tested ing field for technologies that are later used on Eu-

Ex-owners of polluting Italian steel plant convicted

(AP) — Two former own- disaster, poisoning the food accused by prosecutors of nal in Italy until two levels of
ers of a troubled steel supply and willful omissions having put undue pressure Verdicts aren’t considered fi- appeal are exhausted.
plant in southern Italy of workplace safety measures. on an environmental official
were convicted Monday of to soften his position on the
toxic pollution that pros- They were sentenced to 22 toxic emissions. That official,
ecutors say cost hundreds years and 20 years, respec- Giorgio Assennato, mean-
of lives. They were each tively. while, was found guilty of
sentenced to more than not reporting Vedola’s pres-
two decades in prison. Two other managers were sure, and was sentenced to
also found guilty in the case two years in prison.
Brothers Fabio Riva and Nic- and sentenced to more than
ola Riva, the former owner two decades, among the 24 Assennato has denied be-
and managers of the Ilva steel former managers convicted ing pressured by Vendola, a
plant in the southern city of in the five-year trial. left-wing politician who also
Taranto, once Europe’s larg- denied wrongdoing and said
est, were convicted of crimi- The former governor of Pug- the verdict had “trampled the
nal association aimed at pro- lia, Nichi Vendola, was con- truth.” Vendola has vowed to
voking an environmental victed of aggravated bribery, appeal.