Digital border systems spread as authority stays split between states and vendors

The newest warning is about trust

Misleading narratives now spread through social media and generative AI, Pope said.

Facts and figures alone will not win back public confidence. Pope told the opening session in Geneva that institutions have to listen and act, even when what they hear is uncomfortable. She argued that false information was turning public anxiety into suspicion and migrants into targets, and that declining trust limits cooperation between governments. Technology used in migration systems should protect personal information and prevent discriminatory bias, she added.

More than 304 million people live outside their countries of birth, including 168 million migrant workers, and remittances support about 1 billion people, roughly one in eight worldwide.

Who actually controls a border system

Supplying a border system is not the same as running a border. A Kenya Today explainer published on 2 November says a private company that supplies airport technology does not acquire the government's power to admit, refuse, investigate or remove a traveller.

The explainer separates five roles. The sovereign authority decides who may enter or leave and makes the final border decision. A system owner or public contracting authority defines the programme, approves users, sets retention rules and supervises the contract. Airlines provide advance passenger information but do not make the admission decision. The technology supplier installs and maintains the system, and may process data on the authority's instructions, which does not make it the decision-maker. Auditors and data-protection authorities test whether the programme meets its legal, financial, privacy and performance obligations.

In the United States, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the public authority for the biometric entry-exit programme, while airlines, airports, contractors and vendors take part in implementation.

The same split appears in Europe. In the EU Entry/Exit System, eu-LISA operates the central system, participating countries apply it at their borders, and national authorities remain responsible for border checks.

Deployments are spreading

Deployments keep moving regardless of who holds which role. The Nigerian Immigration Service has installed nine surveillance cameras in Taraba State as part of an electronic border surveillance system, Leadership reported on 30 October.

The cameras are part of the third phase of the federal e-border surveillance project. That phase is meant to watch areas without permanent immigration personnel. Saratu Ibrahim, the controller of Immigration in Taraba State, said the first two phases built control rooms in Jalingo, Gembu, Morofi and Sardauna, and that the system now covers Sardauna, Kurmi and Takum local government areas.

In the Caribbean, the open questions are money and terms. St Vincent and the Grenadines is weighing a digital border management system already used in St Kitts and Nevis, and the vendor has made a formal presentation to Cabinet, St Vincent Times reported on 28 October.

A Vincentian delegation led by Michelle Forbes, permanent secretary in the ministry responsible for national security, immigration and disaster management, travelled to St Kitts and Nevis for an on-site assessment. Tourism Minister Kishore Shallow said he reviewed the system's front-end and back-end operations earlier this year. No final Cabinet decision or contract award has been announced. The government has not released cost, financing, timelines or data protection frameworks.

Europe tests social-media monitoring

Under an EU plan, Frontex would set up an internal structure to monitor social media and report content it says is facilitating illegal entry to EU countries, POLITICO reported on 28 October.

Frontex would apply for trusted flagger status under the Digital Services Act (DSA). That status gives priority to content it flags to platforms. The European Commission is seeking to double the agency's budget over the next seven years and expand its powers to deport people. Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's tech chief, announced the move at a meeting of signatories of the DSA's code of conduct on disinformation, where questions about free speech came up, according to POLITICO.

MEPs are split. Benifei said "the Commission now proposes copying ICE's invasive online tracking," referencing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Others are more reserved. Polish MEP Piotr Müller told POLITICO that the "mandate must be precise" and that Frontex should go after smugglers and human traffickers, not police opinions about migration. Irish MEP Regina Doherty said authorities need tools against smugglers who use social media, but that the detail must be right within a clear legal framework.

What is still unknown

For Frontex, the trusted flagger application would have to be reviewed by a national authority to check the agency's independence and expertise. The review's practical shape is unclear.

Pope put the test in one sentence. Trust is earned one step at a time, she said, and every agreement honoured and every person treated fairly makes cooperation stronger.