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Final report on Joint Police Operation Aphrodite
1. Background of the JPO, general description and operational methodology
JPO Aphrodite is aimed at combating illegal immigration, with the focus being on illegal border-
crossing, the secondary movements of irregular migrants who enter EU Member States illegally, the
routes used and other information regarding smuggling of migrants. JPO Aphrodite is a follow-up
to a series of operations initiated by Member States (MS) during their presidency.
The Operation lasted for two consecutive weeks
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Schengen Associated Countries (SAC).
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The method of gathering the information during the operation was through a report template in the
form of an Excel spreadsheet which was completed and sent electronically by the participant
countries to the Cyprus authorities for every incident involving the interception of an irregular
immigrant. It should be noted that the report template did not include any personal data of the
intercepted irregular immigrants.
The responsible authority for conducting this JPO was the Statistical Office of the Cyprus Police
Aliens and Immigration Unit, where all report templates from all participant countries were
gathered, processed, elaborated and analysed.
2.
Lead Member State for the operation and coordination structure
JPO Aphrodite was initiated and coordinated by the Cyprus Police (Aliens and Immigration Unit)
in cooperation with the Frontex Agency. The operation was conducted on the basis of the
operational plan sent out to participants via LEWP before implementation. The operational plan was
approved by each Member State.
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In accordance with the guidelines laid down in the operational plan, each participant country was
requested to appoint a national contact point which was responsible for the coordination of the
operation in their respective country as well as for gathering and forwarding the operational data to
the Cyprus Presidency project contact point at the Statistical Office of the Aliens and Immigration
Unit where all report templates were gathered, processed, elaborated and analysed.
3. Participant countries, authorities and/or organisations
The level of participation was massive, with 26 MS and 2 SAC taking part in the operation
(Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria,
Belgium, Cyprus, Slovenia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Norway,
Sweden, Netherlands, Estonia, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Malta, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and
Latvia).
The Frontex Agency contributed to the operation by supporting the Cyprus National Coordination
Office in collecting operational data and by making its Risk Analysis Unit available to prepare the
chapter of the report concerning the illegal border-crossing of migrants at the EU's external borders.
4. Objectives of the operation
The objective of JPO APHRODITE was to collect information from all participant countries
concerning illegal migration, in particular the following data:
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5.
Summary of the operational results
On the basis of the operational data provided by the participant Member States, the following
results were achieved:
Chapter I
1. General description of the results
1.1. Participant countries in JPO Aphrodite
The Operation lasted for two weeks, with a major input from 28 countries resulting in valuable
analysis and conclusions.
1.2. Results for each participant country
Overall, during the operational period, 3 692 report templates were received by the Cyprus National
Coordinators from all participant countries, reporting 5 298 interceptions of irregular immigrants.
Figure 1: Results of participant countries
Germany
1510
Ireland
89
Unit. Kingdom
728
Romania
88
Spain
468
Slovak Rep.
55
Austria
387
Norway
54
Poland
365
Sweden
54
Switzerland
249
Netherlands
36
Hungary
223
Estonia
35
Italy
207
Portugal
27
Bulgaria
146
Denmark
18
Belgium
135
Finland
5
Cyprus
117
Malta
2
Slovenia
108
Liechtenstein
1
Lithuania
101
Luxembourg
0
Czech Rep.
90
Latvia
0
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The largest number of interceptions was reported by Germany, with 1 510 intercepted irregular
immigrants, almost 29 % of the total. A considerable number of interceptions took place in the
United Kingdom (728 – 13.74 %), Spain (468 – 8.83 %), Austria (387 – 7.30 %) and Poland
(365 – 6. 89 %).
It is also worth mentioning that, in contrast to the large numbers reported above, some countries
such as Luxemburg and Latvia did not report any interceptions for the operational period, while
Liechtenstein reported 1 and Malta 2.
Figure 2: Top 10 EU/SAC of Interceptions
1.3. Interceptions of illegal immigrants, broken down by gender
Of the overall number of interceptions (5 298), the data received from the participant countries
indicated the gender of 3 792 illegal immigrants, of whom 3 096 (71.57 %) were male,
436 (11.50 %) female and 260 (6.86 %) minors under the age of 18.
The numbers broken down by gender for those who were intercepted were as follows:
• at
border-crossing points: 1 157 males, 232 females, 82 minors;
•
inland: 1 327 males, 177 females, 110 minors;
•
outside border-crossing points: 612 males, 27 females and 68 minors.
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2. Participant countries with the largest number of interceptions
The findings of the operation showed that some participant countries are more affected than others
by illegal migratory trends. These countries are either used as a final destination or as a stepping
stone to the desired destination.
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Chapter II
1. Third country nationals intercepted during JPO
Overall, 130 third countries from all over the world were reported as the country of origin of
intercepted persons.
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1.1. Final target destinations
An analysis of the data derived from the debriefing process of the intercepted illegal immigrants
concerning their target country indicates that the most popular final target destination is the United
Kingdom. Germany is also a favoured destination, followed by Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Austria,
France, Ireland, Sweden and Cyprus.
Figure 10: Final target destinations
United Kingdom
872
Germany
672
Spain
440
Switzerland
162
Italy
159
Austria
141
France
129
Ireland
87
Sweden
84
Cyprus
83
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Chapter III
The following analytical report has been prepared by the Frontex Agency's Risk Analysis Unit, and
covers its contribution to the Operation regarding the illegal border-crossing of migrants at the
EU's external borders.
1. Introduction
Joint Police Operation (JPO) Aphrodite was organised under the auspices of the Cyprus Presidency
of the Council of the European Union, focusing on illegal border-crossings and secondary
movements of irregular migrants after they had entered European Union Member States and
Schengen Associated Countries.
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during JPO Aphrodite with the Frontex Risk Analysis Unit.
The aim of this report is to present the situation concerning irregular migration at the EU’s external
borders before and during JPO Aphrodite. For the purposes of this report (January – September),
FRAN data from January to September 2012 was taken into account in conjunction with data from
the Poseidon Land, Poseidon Sea, Aeneas, Hermes, Indalo and Focal Points Land JOs for the month
of October and the first four days of November 2012. In addition to this data, data from the
European Union Document-Fraud Network (EDF) and PULSAR were also used to compile this
report.
The time needed to reach destination countries after illegally crossing the EU’s external borders is
estimated to be from a few weeks up to one year or even longer. Therefore, the number of illegal
border-crossings from the beginning of 2012 or from the start of Frontex-coordinated JOs in 2012
were taken into account.
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2. Irregular migration
2.1 Highlights
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2.2 Irregular migration routes
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Figure 16: The map illustrates the total number of arrests in the Eastern Mediterranean from
1 January to 4 November 2012 and 2011. In order to read the statistics properly, the
information for the Poseidon Sea JO has been divided into Areas Alpha and Bravo.
(see ADD 2 to this document)
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Nationalities of apprehended migrants
Nearly 34 000 arrests for illegal border-crossing were recorded in the framework of all the joint
operations coordinated by Frontex in the Eastern Mediterranean during the first nine months
of 2012.
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Figure 17:Detections of illegal border-crossings, by nationality, from January to August 2012
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In September and October 2012, 3 680 irregular migrants were apprehended along the Eastern
Mediterranean route.
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Figure 18:Detections of illegal border-crossings, by nationality,
from 1 September to 4 November 2012
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In general the most commonly claimed final destinations were: Italy, Finland, Germany, France
and the United Kingdom. For many migrants, Greece is only a stop-over country before they
move further to other EU countries either by land, sea or air.
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Air borders
For the purpose of this report the number of identified falsified documents at the EU’s air borders in
the first three quarters of 2012 was taken into account. During the first three quarters of 2012, a
total of 3 035 falsified documents were reported to the EDF from the EU’s air borders.
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Chapter IV
1. Indications of smuggling of illegal immigrants
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2. Asylum seekers
Out of the total of 5,298 interceptions, 481 people applied for international protection upon being
intercepted, and 201 applied after being intercepted. It should be noted that 143 of these had applied
in the past for international protection in an EU or SAC Member State before their interception.
Figure 22: Asylum seekers
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3. False documents
The total number of illegal immigrants who used false travel documents or were involved in
imposture cases was 339.
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4. Means of transportation
•
Type of transportation
Different types of transportation were used by illegal immigrants to effect their entry into the EU.
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•
Illegal immigrants intercepted at air borders (aeroplane)
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•
Illegal immigrants intercepted in public places
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•
Illegal immigrants intercepted in lorries
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•
Illegal immigrants intercepted in trains
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•
Illegal immigrants intercepted in cars
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•
Illegal immigrants intercepted in buses
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5. Costs
The operation was carried out using the available capacity of the Member States and the Frontex
Agency, with no additional costs.
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6.
Evaluation of the operation
6.1 Degree to which the aims and objectives of the JPO were attained
It can be concluded that the aims and objectives of the operation were very largely achieved. The
level of participation was massive, involving 26Member States and 2 SAC. The preparation phase
was carried out smoothly with no particular difficulties.
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6.2 General assessment, including the analytical results, the added value and usefulness of
the operation (including its cost efficiency), as well as difficulties encountered and
lessons learned
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6.3 Recommendation for possible future improvements or best practices and/or
further action
-
Such an operation should be continued by other Member States running the Presidency or the
European Council.
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It should be possible to analyse operational data sent to Frontex and compare it with
operational activities coordinated by Frontex at the EU's external borders for evaluation
purposes.
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The involvement of Frontex Agency is very valuable in the whole process of the operation as
well as during the procedure for evaluating of the results.
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Document Outline