Challenging assignment on the EU’s external border
6 February 2025 15:02
On many occasions the Swedish crews have escorted migrants to a safe harbour and handed them over to the Italian authorities on Lampedusa.
During the winter, the Swedish Coast Guard, together with the Police Authority, has assisted with the Frontex assignment in Italy. From the small island of Lampedusa, they monitor the EU’s external borders, prevent smuggling, and save lives. The route via Lampedusa is still one of the most heavily trafficked migration paths in Europe, despite the fact that the numbers of crossings in the central Mediterranean has decreased by 59 percent during the last year.
Preliminary statistics from Frontex for 2024 show that irregular border crossings declined by 38 percent compared to 2023. In total, around 239,000 migrants arrived in the EU during 2024.
The Swedish patrols, where coast guards and the marine police work side-by-side, operate from the island of Lampedusa, southwest of Sicily in the Mediterranean.
“Since we commenced this year’s assignment in October 2024, we have escorted 964 people, on a total of 29 occasions, back to a safe harbour and handed them over to the Italian authorities on Lampedusa,” says Peter Widlund, Head of the Coastguard’s Frontex operations.
”There have been periods with strong winds during the winter when we were unable to patrol, but our crew are very flexible and have swapped workdays so that we can work when the weather is calmer instead. That’s when the migrant boats arrive,“ explains Per Engvall who works as a liaison officer as part of the Swedish contribution to the Frontex International Coordination Center (ICC) located near Rome.
“We have received a lot of praise for the way the Swedish crews both take initiative and work in an active and efficient manner,” explains Peter Widlund.
The majority of the migrant boats are not seaworthy, but this winter the coast guards have noticed a new type of vessel.
”These are motorboats with larger Yamaha engines, up to 250 horsepower. On some days, boats with engines worth several million Swedish crowns arrive on Lampedusa. The migrants in these boats come from Libya and can make the crossing at speeds of 25-30 knots,” says Per Engvall.
However, the passage over the Mediterranean is still very dangerous, and often managed by organised criminal networks. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that 2,300 migrants lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean during 2024.
“The experience that the coast guards gain working with the Frontex assignment will be extremely valuable in their regular duties when they return home to Sweden later in the spring,” says Peter Widlund.
Changed 24 April 2025 15:02