In what could be considered a symbol of European Union migration cooperation, Maltese army personnel are in Greece participating in a Frontex border control mission aimed at stemming illegal immigration across the EU’s eastern borders, while the Frontex mission currently underway in the proximity of Malta is being supported by Maltese, Italian, German and French equipment and personnel.

A total of 18 Maltese soldiers from the ‘C’ (Special Duties) Company of the Armed Forces’ 1st Regiment have volunteered for the three phases comprising the Greek mission, Poseidon 2007, the last leg of which is due to begin on 18 September and will run to 7 October. Six Maltese soldiers are participating in each of the three phases.

The Maltese soldiers have been posted to the Greek island of Samos, roughly the size of Malta in the Aegean Sea just a few kilometres from Turkey, where they are patrolling the island’s eastern coast and carrying out land-based surveillance operations.

The mission – aimed at providing early warning to the Greek authorities on movements of irregular migrants – is being hosted by Greece, Italy and Bulgaria and involves teams and equipment from those states, as well as from Austria, Germany, Spain and the UK, apart from Malta.

The teams of six Maltese soldiers are split into two squads for the nocturnal patrols, conducting short stops at sensitive locations, such as the two promontories overlooking a busy sea passage used for illegal migration.

Equipped with devices such as thermal cameras and night vision goggles, the Maltese soldiers are tasked with detecting tell-tale white spots on the dark seas, which they then report to their Greek counterparts for investigation.

Speaking yesterday, ‘C’ Company Commanding Officer Major Ian Ruggier explained that sightings of illegal movements in the Aegean by the Maltese squad ranged as high as two to four sightings per night but, as is the case with Malta, such movements are highly dependent on weather and sea conditions.

The ‘C’ Company’s mission statement is to deploy – by land, sea or air – to a local or foreign area of operations on short notice to support the policies and objectives of the Government of Malta.

According to a Frontex risk analysis, the Aegean Sea, the Greek-Turkish land border and the Greek-Albanian land border were to have been hard pressed by illegal migration this year, which led the border control agency to launch the Poseidon mission.

The first phase had been held between 15 May and 3 June while phase two ran from 26 June to 15 July. The first two phases have proved successful, having intercepted 673 illegal immigrants, 14 so-called ‘facilitators’ – better known as human traffickers, and 225 forged or falsified travel documents.

As far as the Nautilus II patrols near and around Malta are concerned, AFM Brigadier Carmel Vassallo explained yesterday Malta had dedicated three patrol boats and two Islander aircraft toward the mission, which began this week. AFM helicopters are also on the standby should they need to be deployed, as are two helicopters from the Italian military mission to Malta and the two German helicopters which had participated in the Nautilus mission conducted earlier this summer.

While Italy is exclusively handling the area around the island of Lampedusa, there is also an Italian naval ship patrolling the mission’s wider area while a French vessel will also be participating for a week.

The current mission is expected to be shorter than that carried out earlier this summer, but EU Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini has pledged the patrols of the southern and central Mediterranean would become permanent fixtures early next year.