ONLY ON AP: EU builds digital barriers to stop migrants

As travel restrictions are lifted in some parts of the world in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Europe is sending migrants a loud message: 'Stay away!'

A vast array of physical and experimental new digital barriers are being installed and tested during the quiet months of the coronavirus pandemic at the 200-kilometre (125-mile) Greek border with Turkey to stop people entering the European Union (EU) illegally.

Greek border police are firing bursts of deafening noise from an armoured truck over the border into Turkey.

Mounted on the vehicle, the long-range acoustic device, or "sound cannon," is the size of a small TV set but can match the volume of a jet engine.

A new steel wall, similar to recent construction on the U.S.-Mexico border, blocks commonly-used crossing points along the Evros River that separates the two countries.

Nearby observation towers are being fitted with long-range cameras, night vision, and multiple sensors.

The data will be sent to control centres to flag suspicious movement using artificial intelligence analysis.

Police Major Dimosthenis Kamargios, head of the region's border guard authority, says the new technology will give Greece a "a clear 'pre-border' picture" of what's happening.

"Our main goal is to prevent migrants from entering the country illegally. To accomplish this, we use new and modern equipment," he said, adding that key elements of the network will be launched by the end of the year.

The EU has poured 3 billion euros (3.7 billion US dollars) into security tech research following the refugee crisis in 2015-16, when more than a million people - many escaping wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - fled to Greece and on to other EU countries.

The automated surveillance network being built on the Greek-Turkish border is aimed at detecting migrants early and deterring them from crossing, with river and land patrols using searchlights and long-range acoustic devices.

Researchers at universities around Europe, working with private firms, have developed futuristic surveillance and verification technology, and tested more than a dozen projects at Greek borders.

Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), lie detectors and virtual border-guard interview bots have been piloted, as well as efforts to integrate satellite data with footage from drones on land, air, sea and underwater.

Palm scanners record the unique vein pattern in a person's hand to use as a biometric identifier.

Makers of live camera reconstruction technology promise to erase foliage virtually, exposing people hiding near border areas.

Testing has also been conducted in Hungary, Latvia and elsewhere along the eastern EU perimeter.

The more aggressive migration strategy has been advanced by European policymakers over the past five years, funding deals with Mediterranean countries outside the bloc to hold migrants back and transforming the EU border protection agency, Frontex, from a coordination mechanism to a full-fledged multinational security force.

But regional migration deals have left the EU exposed to political pressure from neighbours.

Earlier this month, several thousand migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in a single day, prompting Spain to deploy the army.

A similar crisis unfolded on the Greek-Turkish border and lasted three weeks last year.

Human rights groups warn that the emerging technology will make it even harder for refugees fleeing wars and extreme hardship to find safety.

Patrick Breyer, a German member of the European Parliament, has taken an EU research authority to court, demanding that details of the AI-powered lie detection programme be made public.

He urged authorities to allow broad oversight of border surveillance methods to review ethical concerns fearing the technology could eventually be turned inward, to monitor European populations.

But in the Greek border village of Poros, Athanasios Pemousis, director of the local municipal authority, welcomed the increased measures.

A new 26 kilometre metal fence is under construction nearby to guard the country's border against what Pemousis described as "a neighbour who is always aggressive."

Migration flows have slowed in many parts of Europe during the pandemic, interrupting an increase recorded over recent years.

In Greece, for example, the number of arrivals dropped from nearly 75,000 two years ago to 15,700 last year, a decrease of 78%.

But the pressure is sure to return.

Between 2000 and 2020, the world's migrant population rose by more than 80% to reach 272 million, according to United Nations data, fast outpacing international population growth.