The Greek-Turkish land border is an increasingly militarised topography, where Greek and
EU bodies authorise and promote the use of cutting edge technology to assist in the management and control of irregular border crossings. Yet, in this space, where loss of life occurs frequently, authorities fail to utilise the surveillance apparatus to account for the circumstances for these events.

Similarly, despite the establishment of border control mechanisms and infrastructure at sea, national and European border control agencies fail to prevent deaths, or even to document their operational procedures and efforts.

This presentation draws from recent fieldwork conducted in a forensic examiner’s office in the north of Greece, juxtaposing findings relevant to border crossers’ deaths, with the lack of information provided on the public domain about such events.

Furthermore, it questions how can such a well-established regime of visibility at land and at sea, go blind when humanitarian assistance is required, for the purposes -of among others- preventing death and injury.

Finally, through international case studies, where the installation of surveillance tools is deemed as beneficial to search and rescue, the research investigates these claims of benevolence, and seeks to problematise prevalent discourses on the matter.