In a bid to tighten Schengen external borders’ protection, Switzerland will begin contributing to a fund starting from August 1, 2024.
For this purpose, a total of €300 million have been projected to be invested between 2021 and 2027, Schengen.News reports.
Confirming the decision is aimed at strengthening the external borders of the EU’s Schengen Zone, the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said the sum is calculated based on the national GDP.
During the same period, Switzerland is expected to receive about CHF 50 million from the fund. These funds will be used to put in place new EU information systems for monitoring the entry and exit across the zone.
Authorities in Switzerland said that some of this amount of money will be used to expand border control infrastructure at Zurich Airport.
EU Countries Have Reintroduced Border Controls to Deal With Influx of Migrants
An increase in the number of irregular arrivals has led several European Union countries to reintroduce border controls.
The temporary reintroduction of border controls is being considered by some EU countries as an effective response to deal with irregular migration.
Countries such as Croatia, Slovenia and Italy have agreed to maintain in place internal Schengen Border Controls with one another for an extended period.
At the same time, Slovenia extended once again border controls with Croatia and Hungary until December 21, 2024.
Germany also extended border controls with Czechia, Poland and Switzerland until December 15, 2024.
Germany also introduced border controls at all German borders during the European Football Championship. Recently calls in this country emerged to retain border controls in a bid to deal with irregular migration.
Decrease in Number of Irregular Border Crossings at EU’s External Borders in First 6 Months of 2024
The preliminary data of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, provided earlier this month, revealed that about 94,000 irregular border crossings into the EU were registered in the first six months of 2024.
According to Frontex, this accounts for a decrease of about 30 per cent, or almost a third compared to the figures from the same period in 2023.
Statistics from Frontex reveal that among the main migratory routes, the most significant decline in the number of irregular entries was registered in the Western Balkans and the Central Mediterranean. In contrast, a large increase was registered in the West African and the Eastern Land Border.
In the first six months of 2024, there was also a significant increase in irregular border crossings at the Eastern Land Borders, with a sharp rise of 148 per cent to over 6,700. A vast majority of the people detected on this route were Ukrainian nationals.
The agency said that on the Channel route, the number of detections in the first six months of this year surged by 24 per cent reaching a total of 27,100.
