Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert UAVs for border surveillance humanitarian

Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert UAVs for border surveillance & humanitarian rescue at sea? DESSI Conference – 24 June 2013 Peace Research Institute Oslo

Background: EUROSUR and FRONTEX • The establishment of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR), planned for December 2013 • Threefold aim of EUROSUR: (1) reduce undetected entries into EU (2) increase internal security of EU by preventing cross-border crime (3) reduce death toll of migrants at sea • Coordination of surveillance of EU countries bordering the Mediterranean: - creating a common surveillance picture, through network of National Coordination Centres (NCC) - sharing alerts among users more rapidly • FRONTEX has expressed its interest in acquiring UAVs for border surveillance, although the legal framework remains unclear 2

The rationale: enhancing the «situational awareness» • A central aim in the efforts to establish EUROSUR is to improve the “situational awareness” the border guards • Drones for better surveillance ? – perceived as the ultimate tool to “see” more and better – understood as especially useful to detect the small vessels used by the (suspected) irregular migrants, which are also the vessels causing most deadly accidents – presented as potentially more cost-efficient and safe, than for example more robust and constant border patrolling & in difficult areas 3

Drones for border surveillance? • Flexibility and ability to cover larger areas • Essentially legal problems, yet also translating into practical challenges: – What framework for extra-territorial surveillance? – Indiscriminate character of surveillance: drones incapable of distinguishing between migrants in need of international protection and those who can legitimately be returned – A request for asylum should in any case be treated by the competent authorities (on land, and not at sea) – Stopping and returning migrants earlier on: a potential violation of the principle of non-refoulement (1951 Geneva Convention) and the right to leave one’s country (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) 4

What can a drone see? • Difference between surveillance drones on constant watch and a drone sent up for a specific SAR task, eg. following the reception of an alert • Some of the current technology - Stay in the air for specific mission to 30 hours to weeks - From heat sensors, infrared cameras, radar systems, to motion sensors and license plate readers • New systems for surveillance drones that may soon be on the market (eg. ARGUS Camera): - Opening up to 65 windows at the same time - Seeing objects as small as six inches sq on the ground, providing pictures of 1. 8 billion pixels from 17, 500 feet - Meaning: pictures revealing the color of a person’s shirt - Future surveillance drones: able to stay in the air for years - Facial recognition? 5

Drones for humanitarian SAR operations? • Drones might detect potentially deadly accidents earlier on, and thus save lives because rescue teams arrive to the location earlier • EUROSUR in addition has some advantages based on it being a system coordinated among neighboring states: - Coordination of alerts in an area of overlapping territorial waters/international waters and SAR areas - Creation of “watchers watch over the watchers” system, more difficult to claim “we didn’t see anything” • Challenges related to the instances collecting the information vs. those in charge of responding to situations of alert - EUROSUR: no inclusion of SAR authorities, or requests that MS improve the coordination between their border patrolling authorities and those responsible for SAR 6

Specific challenges to the use of drones both for border surveillance and for SAR Responsibilities & division of labor: • A same technological device – eg. drones – may be used to detect a range of different «events» at sea: suspected criminal activity, irregular migration, vessels in distress… • …requiring different responses by different agents (SAR, police, border patrols, etc. ) • Potential challenge for int’l cooperation: different divisions of labor between agencies Operationalizing the data: • From seeing a situation of distress to carrying out a SAR operation Privacy & data protection issues: - Sensitive when dealing with asylum seekers & sharing of data with 3 rd countries - Diffferent types of migrants: do the subjects want to be seen or not? Dilemma: Humanitarian justifications vs. migrants’ human rights 7

Legal & political challenges • Extra-territorial surveillance: a legal framework needed • Additional privacy and data protection issues raised in situations of cooperation with third countries • Challenge of making legal regulations today, with constantly evolving technologies • Political climate and socio-political acceptability of drones for surveillance • Function creep and risks associated to multiple usages of the same tool 8