28 March 2012
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EU: UK setting
up "Mobile Detection Unit" for external border controls
- "cutting-edge
technology" includes "heart beat detectors" to
find migrants
The UK report, to the EU's Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA), says that: "we have developed a strategic layered deployment of a number of specific technologies to detect illegal immigrants in vehicles". It says that the manual searching of vehicles is no longer effective and that the Unit will provide four different means of detecting human beings. These are:
"Carbon dioxide detectors, these identify levels of carbon dioxide in the load space of a vehicle through the employment of a probe inserted through the side covering.
Heart beat detectors, these employ seismic technology to detect minute movement in a vehicle caused by heartbeats.
X/gamma ray scanners, these produce high quality images and can be used on all types of vehicle to search for clandestine entrants and contraband.
Passive Millimetric Wave Imaging, this equipment uses a type of thermal imaging system and is capable of detecting clandestine entrants in soft-sided vehicles while they are in motion"
The mobile Unit would respond to: "needs identified by intelligence colleagues" and would target the five main routes into the EU:
"Baltic Route: Moscow-Baltic States-Poland-Czech Republic-Austria/Germany
Central Route: Ukraine-Poland/Slovakia/Hungary/Czech Republic-Austria/Germany
Eastern Mediterranean Route: Middle East - Greece/Italy
North African Route: North Africa - Spain/Italy
Balkan Route:
Turkey - Balkan States - Italy/Austria"
"Centre
of excellence at Dover - Mobile Detection Unit", doc number
11994/02 (13.9.02)
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