the use of drones authorized by the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture to monitor the Italian border

The prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes authorizes the use of drones to monitor the Italian border, to fight against the irregular passage of migrants in France, learned France Bleu Azur Thursday, May 11. The prefecture has published a decree in which it authorizes this use until August 9, “unmanned aircraft on board”specifies the decree.

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Within a defined perimeter, the “capture, recording and transmission of images” by two cameras, must help to fight against irregular passages, “a migratory flow from Italy multiplied by four”since the beginning of the year, with “more than 9,000 inadmissible, irregular individuals were intercepted”. A maximum of two cameras can operate simultaneously on this border territory.

150 additional police officers in the Alpes-Maritimes

According to the prefecture, the drone is the best solution for monitoring the Italian border. “The interest is to have a wide-angle view to allow surveillance of the border while limiting the engagement of forces on the ground, the use of capture devices installed on aircraft is necessary and appropriate; it does not there is no less intrusive device to achieve the same ends”.

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She justifies this choice by “the difficulty of the terrain and the presence of numerous footpaths making it possible to circumvent the system for combating illegal irregular immigration.” In April, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had already announced the deployment of 150 additional police officers in the Alpes-Maritimes, to fight against the illegal arrivals of migrants in the department.