Border security

Arms companies 'rake in billions' as Europe builds new walls

As Europe gears up for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the construction of new barriers to keep out migrants and refugees are netting billions of dollars for major corporations in the region, a new report has found.

European Union member states have spent at least 900 million euros ($1.08bn) on land borders since the end of the Cold War, according to the study coauthored by the Transnational Institute, Centre Dels and Dutch campaign group Stop Wapenhandel (Stop the Arms Trade).

The Iron Curtain may be a distant memory, but since the 1990s European states have constructed walls measuring 1,000km (621 miles), and conducted naval operations that cover a further 4,500km (2,796 miles) all while dispensing massive contracts to some of the world's biggest arms companies.