The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced this Tuesday during a visit to Menton (Alpes-Maritimes) reinforcements in the fight against illegal immigration at the border with Italy, where pressure is increasing.
At the end of April, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced the dispatch of 150 additional gendarmes and police officers, while the number of migrants arriving on Italian shores has doubled this year compared to the same period in 2022 and many seek to continue their journey via the France.
Increase in staff and technological controls
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We have a 100% increase in flows, which affects the Alpes-Maritimes and the entire Alps," Darmanin told reporters after a visit to the Menton border post. The units of mobile forces, police or gendarmes, will increase from two to four, reaching a total of more than 200 people. The soldiers assigned to night reconnaissance in the mountains as part of Operation Sentinelle will increase from 60 to 120, and customs personnel will also be doubled, assured the minister.
At the same time, law enforcement can now use drones to monitor crossing points, and the immigration bill, due to be debated in the Senate in the autumn, plans to widen the strip of territory within which migrants can be turned back, currently set at 20 km, and to strengthen the fight against smugglers.
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A lot of technological means, better organization and in the spring, I hope, legislation that will help us fight more, "said Darmanin, while acknowledging that many factors such as instability in the Sahel would further increase migratory pressure.