The European external border surveillance system, Eurosur, aims to reduce the number of undetected illegal migrants to the EU, including those who arrive by boat, and seeks to prevent cross-border crime.

The EU Commission plans to launch the new state-of-the-art surveillance system in December with a budget of 244 million euros ($332 million) between 2014 and 2020.

The program will gather information on boats believed to be carrying illegal migrants, fight trafficking networks and also help save refugees in distress.