Increase in freight, passenger traffic, the port of Sète, a sensitive border of the Schengen area for the PAF

PAF police officers check around 8,000 passengers per week in high season, “this requires tight logistics”. Hélène Amirals

The passengers transported are checked by PAF police officers and then by customs. Hélène Amirals

Neuf gardes-frontières ont rejoint la PAF depuis quelques mois. Hélène Amiraux

Police officers can go on patrol on electric bikes. Hélène Amirals

Freight is also inspected at the rate of several hundred trailers per cago ship rotation. Hélène Amirals

The famous manual stamp issued by the border police upon arrival in the national territory will be replaced by its computer version. Hélène Amirals

Le contrôle des passeports est réalisé par la PAF en aubette, postes de garde qui matérialisent la frontière.. Hélène Amiraux

Le travail des policiers de la PAF face au défi de la hausse du trafic fret et passagers.

Sète is not a port like any other. It marks a border crossing point (PPF) in the Schengen area and on French territory. Which makes it a sensitive area in terms of security. Goods and passenger traffic has increased sharply since 2019. The number of passengers has almost doubled to reach 218,397 inbound people in 2023 (more than 8,000 per week in summer).

"We're going to beat last year's numbers" 

Freight has also jumped with the sharp increase in the number of rotations of the freight company DFDS (235 in 2023 compared to 154 in 2021). "This year we are going to beat last year’s figures with the upcoming season and the Olympics", announce divisional commissioner Olivier Harguindeguy, the interdepartmental director of the PAF (Hérault Border Police). Specialized service of the national police, guarantor of port security.

Freight coming from risk areas, the PAF checks hundreds of trailers per day

Freight ship rotations increased from 154 in 2021 to 235 in 2023 (the connections of the Turkish company DFDS increased to five per week with the city of Yalova and one, weekly with Izmir). And should further increase with the launch of a triangular freight line between Rades – Marseille or Barcelona-Sète twice a week by the Tunisian company Cotunav.

“Unleaded”

With each cargo arrival, the PAF of Sète, responsible for irregular immigration, presents itself to disembark the freight trailers (three agents). "The Turkish ports are not very far from the Syrian-Iraqi zone, it’is sensitive", indicates the director of the PAF Hérault, Olivier Harguindeguy. Drivers' documents are checked in advance, then upon arrival. It also happens that some take advantage of stopovers to reach Calais. Around fifty in five years.
Sometimes in freezing wind or oppressive heat, the police set out on foot to visually inspect the loads (200 trailers that day), to see if they had been ’ ldquo;unleaded”. "We check that the lead seals have not been torn off, like the metal ropes, that the tarpaulins are not torn, explains the pair. We have to do it at the moment because there is a lot of movement in the parking lot, we can miss certain drivers who leave immediately. The task can be dangerous between the hundreds of heavy goods vehicles which move quickly. If there is any doubt about the truck, a joint inspection is initiated with customs.

 

326 passengers disembarked in 1 hour 30

That morning, one of the two brigades of the UCT (Cross-border Control Unit, around forty personnel) from Sète was mobilized on two arrivals: a ship ro-ro from DFDS quay H and the ferry Atlas coming from Morocco with 326 passengers on board and 242 cars to be disembarked from quay M. In an hour and a half for this last operation, by a dozen agents. In the summer season, reservists come as reinforcements. "It requires tight logistics", coordinated with customs and the harbor master's office, notes Major Emmanuel Grassart, who has headed UCT Sète for 14 years. "There, we have calm seas but in winter it frequently happens that there are delays in control operations, confirms the director. We have monthly meetings with the port to debrief on malfunctions and remind the companies of the rule. They have a commercial logic, which consists of going as quickly as possible by reducing stopover times. This is the case for example for the Sète-Calais piggyback route set up in 2019".

Aubettes on the first line

If cruise passengers are checked well in advance of their arrival by the PAF using lists sent by the companies, on the ferry side, 100% of passengers are checked when disembarking (or boarding) by car or on foot. They are directed in six lines towards shelters. These maritime guard posts installed "on the front line" in front of the Orsetti station, each operated by two border guards (GFPSP) since one year (read below) supervised by “Pafist” police officers, specialized in documentary fraud.

Very mobile on electric bikes

Eric brigadier-chief, 8 years within the PAF of Sète, after working at Orly and Nice airports saw traffic increase. "Sometimes with a double stopover in the summer, the check can last up to 6 hours". And until after 8 p.m. "s’there's a case". Mobile on electric bikes, the police are present from "the bottom of the boat" to check that no maritime illegal immigrants does not hide among pedestrian passengers or in the trunks of cars and does not try to escape, even by swimming. Sometimes agents can be called very quickly because the tone rises: "There are too many vehicles on board or customers do not want to get off the boat because they are waiting for a gesture commercial of the company which is late… "
All passengers, whether Schengen nationals or not, go through the passport reader in the hut. "We also take fingerprints, it’is infallible against the“look like”" to thwart false identity documents, explains Akim, brigadier-chief at the head of the brigade.

Internal border control

Connections with the Balearic Islands are also a point of vigilance, even if it is a Schengen zone. "Since 2015, France is one of the countries which have had the right to regularly extend the reestablishment of internal border control (RCFI). In Sète, in this context, 20% of passengers can be checked randomly in this way", specifies divisional commissioner Olivier Harguindeguy. In the event of an anomaly detected, the person is directed in the second line to police officers responsible for judicial control (shift unit). "We execute around ten research files per descent",confides the head of the unit, Laurence. His team also deals with OQTFs, visa counterfeits, etc. In liaison with all the judicial authorities in the country but also in Europe. "We're doing auditions. You can be placed in administrative detention or police custody. We have a small jail right next door".

Travelers who are not in good standing are sent back directly, "we write a refusal of admission. If the papers are false, they are seized", specifies Abd-Ilah, a specialist in documentary fraud. While waiting for the next boat, the fraudster, who has not entered the national territory, will be placed in the international waiting zone at the CRA, before being able to be returned. The fear of the Pafists is above all the delicate matters of unauthorized departures of minors abroad. In addition to this daily work, the PAF regularly carries out targeted operations, such as on stolen vehicles.

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