Letter: High-tech borders

From Christos Giannou

Paul Marks ends his article on robot border guards (9 January, p 20) with a question about the privacy implications of such surveillance technologies for people who live close by.

There are other questions we should be asking, such as whether technology really is the answer to controlling illegal immigration. The main reasons people leave their homes, often under dangerous circumstances, are poverty, war, tyranny, corruption and injustice. Are better radar and sensors the way to deal with these issues? If the world tackled the socio-economic problems behind illegal immigration, perhaps rich countries would not have to hide behind high-tech borders.

From Tim Sprod

Regarding the emergent high-tech border guards reported by Paul Marks, it strikes me that if we spent more money and effort ensuring that the “have nots” had more access to what the “haves” have, then we could spend less on keeping the “have nots” away from the “haves”.

Taroona, Tasmania, Australia

Kastro, Monemvasia, Greece