Le Figaro Nice
Commander Pascal Barbagelata does not hide his pride.
This Tuesday morning, on the platform of Menton-Garavan station, he came, accompanied by the departmental director of the Border Police (PAF) of the Alpes-Maritimes, the divisional commissioner Emmanuelle Joubert, to present the results of the detachment of the operational reserve that he has been leading since its creation in 2020. And the figures are encouraging.
In fact, this group of 60 police officers assigned to the fight against irregular immigration at the Italian border alone has accumulated some 9,800 arrests since January 1 out of 30,000 in total, all police services combined in the department.
Made up of retired officers from all departments (judicial, CRS, BAC, etc.) and from all over the country, this detachment was created in November 2020 on the initiative of the Director General of the National Police, Frédéric Veaux, with the aim of strengthening the local units of the PAF.
"It's one more tool for us in the fight against illegal immigration,"
points out Commissioner Joubert.
This additional workforce allows us to make more arrests by better covering the territory.
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“
The advantage of the reserve is the continuity of services, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. Of the 60 reservists who can be called up, nine take turns in the field every day.
They can be sent here, to Menton station, or to the Turbie toll or even on foot patrols at the border
,” explains Commander Barbagelata.
“What makes the strength of the detachment is also the multitude of skills of the agents, since they all come from different departments.
Not to mention that they have long careers behind them, and the experience is a wealth”
, abounds Emmanuelle Joubert.
A partnership with SNCF
Being one of the routes most used by migrants wishing to reach France illegally, the Nice-Ventimiglia railway line is particularly monitored by these reserve police officers.
Every day, checks are carried out in the wagons.
“We have a partnership with the SNCF.
The trains arrive a few minutes earlier at the station to allow us to carry out checks without delaying travelers
, continues the head of the Menton detachment.
And then the SNCF broadcasts messages before entering the station to prevent checks.
It avoids a lot of problems.”
Operation of the operational reserve detachment, at Menton station
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Thus, to continue on their journey, each foreign traveler must have a valid ticket, identity papers and a visa.
“If all these conditions are not met, the traveler is invited to get off the train.
We first proceed to a security pat-down, then an identity statement.
The person is then handed over to the PAF and then taken back to the border where it is delivered to the Italian authorities
, ”explains the officer.
"They try their luck two or three times by train, and if it doesn't work, they end up using smugglers."
Among the individuals arrested, many are young men, often from Tunisia or Sub-Saharan Africa, and who want to go to England.
Tuesday morning, it was a young Belarusian, claiming to be from Minsk, who was arrested at Menton station.
“They try their luck two or three times by train, and if it doesn't work, they end up calling on smugglers
,” remarks Pascal Barbagelata.
In 2022, the PAF arrested more than 700, mainly at the Turbie toll.
In addition, freight trains are also scrutinized.
“They can hide on rooftops or on hitches.
You have to be particularly attentive to every detail
, ”comments one of the reservists, a former BAC employee.
To increase the number of operational reservists, particularly on these missions to combat illegal immigration, the national police launched a major recruitment campaign last August with the aim of quadrupling its workforce within 10 years, from thus from 6,500 to 30,000 reservists.
“The specificity is that the civilian reserve will become operational.
We are therefore going to integrate volunteers from civil society into our ranks”
, specifies Commander Barbagelata.