Alpes-Maritimes. Menton’s operational reserve has arrested 9,800 people on the French-Italian border since January 1.

Le Figaro Nice

Commander Pascal Barbagelata does not hide his pride. On the platform of the Menton-Garavan station this Tuesday morning, he came accompanied by the head of the department of the Alpes-Maritime Border Police (PAB), divisional commissioner Emmanuel Joubert, to present the results of the operative squad. the reserve, which he has been leading since its creation in 2020. And the numbers are encouraging.

In fact, this group of 60 police officers, assigned only to fight irregular immigration at the Italian border, has made about 9,800 arrests since January 1 out of a total of 30,000, all police services combined. Composed of retired officers from all departments (Judicial, CRS, BAC, etc.) and from across the country, this squad was established in November 2020 at the initiative of the Director General of the National Police, Frederic Vo, with the aim of: to the strengthening of local units of PAH. “It is another tool for us in the fight against illegal immigration. says Commissioner Joubert. This additional manpower allows us to make more arrests, better covering the area.»

“The advantage of the depot is the continuity of services, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day, nine of the 60 reservists who can be mobilized are in the field on a daily basis. They can be sent here, to Menton station, or Turbie toll or even foot patrol at the border.“, Commander Barbagelata explains. “The strength of the squad is also the multiplicity of skills of the agents, as they are all from different departments. Not to mention that they have a long career behind them, and experience is wealth.Emmanuel Joubert is abundant.

Cooperation with SNCF

As one of the routes most used by migrants trying to reach France illegally, the Nice-Ventimiglia railway line is particularly monitored by reserve police. Checks are carried out in the wagons every day. “We have a partnership with SNCF. Trains arrive at the station a few minutes early to allow us to carry out checks without delaying passengerscontinues the head of Menton’s squad. And then the SNCF broadcasts messages before entering the station to prevent checks. It avoids a lot of problems.”

Operation of the Operational Reserve Squadron, at Menton Station

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Thus, every foreign traveler must have a valid ticket, identity documents and visa to proceed with the journey. “If all these conditions are not fulfilled, the traveler is invited to get off the train. We first go to the security bottom, then the identity statement. The person is then handed over to the PAF and then taken back to the border where they are handed over to the Italian authorities.– explains the officer.

“They try their luck two or three times by train, and if it doesn’t work, they end up using smugglers.”

Many of those arrested are young men, often from Tunisia or sub-Saharan Africa, who want to travel to England. On Tuesday morning, it was a young Belarusian who claimed to be from Minsk who was arrested at the Menton station. “They try their luck two or three times by train, and if it doesn’t work, they end up using smugglers”, notes Pascal Barbagelata. In 2022, the PAF made over 700 arrests, mostly for Turbie casualties. In addition, freight trains are also inspected. “They can hide on rooftops or in parking lots. You have to pay particular attention to every detail.”– comments one of the former KGB reservists.

To increase the number of operational reservists, especially in these anti-illegal immigration missions, the national police launched a major recruitment drive last August, aiming to quadruple its workforce over 10 years, from 6,500 to 30,000 reservists. “The feature is that the civil reserve will operate. Therefore, we are going to integrate civil society volunteers into our ranks.”says Commander Barbagelata.