Multi-layered Migration Deterrence and Technology in Spanish Maritime Border Management

Abstract

Until 2006 Spain witnessed growing irregular maritime immigration from the African continent. This intensification in irregular migration has led to the design and application of a migration control policy whose instrumental and institutional structures are becoming increasingly complex. Irregular immigration at maritime borders has been addressed through what we have referred to and characterized as a multi-layered deterrence strategy which has been gradually implemented and upgraded along the main entry points and migration corridors. The Spanish strategy is tightly intertwined with the unfolding of the EU Integrated Border Management approach and combines higher inputs of surveillance and border control technologies with multilateral cooperation agreements reached with transit and origin countries. High-tech border surveillance increases interception probabilities, but effective migration deterrence is conditioned by high expulsion rates once the border has been crossed. It is in the task of border implementation that technology appears as one of the pillars of the control structure and where its effect on deterrence depends on its embeddedness in a mix of instruments and actions.

Migration Policies, Participation and the Political Construction of Migration in Spain

“…In the field of border policies, studies have highlighted the consolidation of patterns of remote control, outsourcing, technologization and privatization (Casas-Cortés et al, 2016;Godenau and López-Sala, 2016;Ferrer-Gallardo and Gabrielli, 2018;López-Sala and Godenau, 2020). These governance techniques have been complemented by additional measures aimed at the preventive control of arrivals, the containment and promotion of refoulement at the border, and deterrent confinement in external perimeter enclaves.…”

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“…Ante las llegadas irregulares a través de la Frontera Sur, principalmente de personas provenientes del África Subsahariana o del Magreb, se ha construido un régimen de disuasión en torno al asilo, fundamentado en el paradigma del «falso solicitante de asilo versus legítimos refugiados» (Scheel y Squire, 2014). Esta lógica de «mecanismos de filtrado selectivo» (Godenau y López-Sala, 2016), no solo ha impregnado toda la política de control fronterizo exterior, sino que se ha trasladado también a los múltiples centros destinados a la contención y la acogida de demandantes de asilo. Una de las consecuencias más relevantes de la implantación de lo que hemos considerado una «lógica de la disuasión» es que no hay intención de consolidar un sistema jurídico sólido y garantista Se trata de implementar la «lógica de dispersión», es decir, el reparto de personas solicitantes de asilo por todo el territorio estatal para, por un lado, descongestionar los principales lugares de llegada y, por el otro, facilitar una mayor posibilidad de atención de calidad, dentro de la precaria situación actual del sistema.…”

Drone Automation to Monitor and Aerial Surveillance on the Group for Special Air Transport - FAE

“…One of these particular cases is Spain, which has endured a great pressure on its frontiers due to the phenomenon of irregular immigration that reached its highest peak since 2006 [6]. In order to complement the existing means of surveillance, some initiatives have developed; among the most prominent is the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft RPA [7].…”