10 October 2014
Mos Maiorum is yet another battle in the war the EU has waged against an imaginary enemy.
Between 13 and 26 October, police forces of the Member States of the European Union (EU) are to conduct massive control operations both within the Schengen area and at its external borders.
A week after the commemoration of the tragedy of Lampedusa in October 2013, a “hunt on migrants” operation dubbed ‘Mos Maiorum’ is to be launched in collaboration with Frontex and Europol. The large-scale operation, coordinated by the Italian Interior Ministry, aims at intercepting and collecting personal data on fake document holders, rejected asylum-seekers and smugglers.
Besides the fact that the European Parliament does not seem to have been informed of the operation, the lack of clarity as regards the legal basis and the practicalities of the operations is particularly problematic. No information is available as to what these interceptions will result in, and whether joint return operations will be organised.
Once again, irregular stay is deemed a criminal act, despite the Court of Justice of the EU’s jurisprudence (El Dridi ruling which condemns the criminalisation of irregular stay). Once again, asylum-seekers are seen as potential abusers of the system. Once again, the collection of personal data is used to chase undocumented migrants.
This operation is reinforcing the fantasy of a criminal invasion in Europecriminal invasion in Europe. Frontex is used as a tool to implement discriminatory policies, and contributes to the violation of the rights of migrants and refugees, as demonstrated by the Frontexit campaign.
