Drohnen-Einsatz gegen Einwanderer, gefördert mit EU-Forschungsgeldern

Bereits im November hat Frontex, die - ja, was eigentlich - "die EU-Behörde"? "europäische Grenzschutzagentur"? - angekündigt, Drohnen zur Grenzkontrolle einsetzen zu wollen, und Herstellerfirmen aufgefordert, ihr entsprechende Angebote zu unterbreiten.

In the domain of land border surveillance, there is a wide spectrum of possible technical means that can be employed to provide effective surveillance including: daylight and infrared cameras, ground radars, fixed ground sensors, mobile systems, manned aircraft and satellites.
However, it is clear that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) could also play an important role in further enhancing border surveillance in the future, though they face a number of technical and other challenges.

Das berichtete Inter-Press Service (IPS), eine Art "NGO-Nachrichtenagentur" am 1. November. Nun bringt Neo-Opticon die Meldung, dass die großen europäischen Rüstungsfirmen ein Konsortium gebildet haben, um Aufklärungsdrohnen zu entwickeln - finanziell gefördert mit EU-Mitteln!

The OPARUS project brings together Sagem, BAE Systems, Finmeccanica, Thales, EADS, Dassault Aviation, ISDEFE, Israel Aircraft Industries and others to “elaborate an open architecture for the operation of unmanned air-to-ground wide area land and sea border surveillance platforms in Europe”. The consortium has received €11.8 million in EU funding.

Es ist den europäischen Waffenproduzenten gelungen, unter dem Markenzeichen "Sicherheitsforschung" einen neuen Markt zu erschließen - wesentlich unterstützt von EU-Institutionen wie ESRIF , dem European Security Research and Innovation Forum . IPS zitiert Frank Slijper von der niederländischen "Kampagne gegen den Waffenhandel", der die Rolle dieses Gremiums treffend zusammenfasst:

"ESRIF was the place in Europe where these supply and demand actors met in a structured formalised setting," he said. "A win-win situation really for all sides on the forum. Such initiatives are steps that enable military integration at a later point." Slijper added: "Note the number of arms companies on board of ESRIF, who post 9/11 have set up special (homeland) security divisions in their companies as that has been a new growth market for their companies."
The European Security Research and Innovation Forum (ESRIF) that ran between 2007 and 2009 brought together individuals and groups from the research community, the private business security sector, and European institutions. Frontex has been a key voice in the forum.