| Author (Person) | Nielsen, Nikolaj |
|---|---|
| Series Title | EUObserver |
| Series Details | 14.10.14 |
| Publication Date | 14/10/2014 |
| Content Type | News |
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A large-scale two-week EU-wide border control and police crackdown on irregular migrants was launched on 13 October 2014 by the Italian EU presidency. Thousands of police officers from the 26 countries in the EU’s Schengen border-free zone were dispatched to border crossings, railway stations, bus depots, and elsewhere in a joint-police operation called Mos Maiorum. The formal objective of the operation was stated to be: 'The J.O. 'MOS MAIORUM' will be an operation aiming at weakening the capacity of organised crime groups to facilitate illegal immigration to the EU and will be focusing on illegal border crossing. Another goal of this operation is to collect information, for intelligence and investigation purposes, regarding the main routes followed by migrants to enter in the common area and the modus operandi used by crime networks to smuggle people towards the EU territory, focusing also on the secondary movements'. The Schengen zone includes 22 member states as well as Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland. According to EUObserver, one unnamed Schengen country refused to participate. The European Commission stated that Mos Maiorum was 'a joint police operation, launched by the Italian six-month presidency of the EU Council. The coordinating authority is the Italian interior ministry and the European Commission is not involved in the operation, and nor has community funding been made available'. It stressed that Europol nor Frontex were involved either. |
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| Source Link | http://euobserver.com/justice/126049 |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
