As the migrant crisis in Europe continues, biometric border control solutions are being deployed to better keep track of asylum seekers in the EU. To this end Greece has been awarded funds by the European Commission (acting through the European Asylum Support Office) to purchase biometric livescan devices from Crossmatch, namely the company’s Crossmatch L Scan palm scanners.
Crossmatch is no stranger to providing biometrics during this time of unprecedented migration. In December the company announced at deployment of its Guardian fingerprint scanners by Germany’s Federal Office of Migration and Refugees. With Greece set to deploy the Crossmatch L Scan devices, the EU will be better equipped to manage the influx of asylum seekers. According to a press release posted by Crossmatch, the images scanned by the Federal Police in Greece using the L Scan will help bolster the EURODAC database.
Commenting on the latest arrangement, Eduardo Parodi, vice president of government sales at Crossmatch said: “With global migration at an all-time high, government border security and relief agencies face new challenges as they work to balance the need to quickly process, protect and place huge numbers of refugees while still maintaining a secure border. The use of proven and reliable biometric capture technology, such as the L Scan and Guardian scanners, support this requirement – enhancing safety and security for all.”
For Greece to take steps in implementing biometric border controls is a sign of progress in the overall securing of Schengen boundaries. The country had been showing resistance in increasing its border protection until recently, an attitude that was so controversial it elicited threats of exclusion from Schengen.
To learn more about how biometrics are being used to manage the migrant crisis, go back and check out our Year in Review 2015 article on border control.
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March 1, 2016 – by Peter B. Counter
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