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Welcome to a new episode of EU Watchdog Radio.

My name is Hans Van Schare, media officer at Corporate Europe Observatory, also known as CEO. In the first weekend of February, the website of CEO and the German TV program ZDF magazine

Royale almost crashed. Reason? The publication of the Frontex files. Three researchers published the analysis of the relationship between the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, aka Frontex, and a multitude of corporate interests, mostly companies from the defense, arms and surveillance technology sectors.

The publication was called Lobbying Fortress Europe, the making of a

border industrial complex. Based on over 130 documents covering meetings from 2017 to 2019,

the research found an agency that is in constant contact with arms, surveillance and biometrics industry representatives.

This, while Frontex told the European Parliament a few years ago, it never met with lobbyists.

The new research found that these companies are pushing a narrative where migrants are a security threat,

for which the solution is to spend more public money

acquiring their equipment, from guns, drones, surveillance equipment to facial recognition tools.

Many of these technophixes could have serious human rights consequences, not only for refugees,

but also for European citizens. That is certainly the case

with biometrics technology, including facial recognition surveillance. Yet, human rights

organizations or experts on fundamental rights are kept out of Frontexist discussions. The three

researchers, Miriam Duo, Luisa Isuskiza and Margarita Silva,

also found that the massive expansion of the budget and powers of Frontex in just a few years

time has unfortunately not been matched by an increase in transparency, accountability,

nor scrutiny. I'll now be talking to Louisa and Miriam,

two of the researchers of the Frontex files. Welcome, Louisa and Miriam. You've just published

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