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The Italians cut off the Arab rebellion in Libya in the 1920s with a wire fence of significant depth along the Egyptian border. The fence was still a significant obstacle in desert battles in WWII.

Morocco did a good job against the Polisario in the 80s. with a sand berm and wire fence. The weakness of any border wall is the guards. "Qui custodiet ipso custodes." Who guards the Guards? is the old line. In a nation with a long tradition of corruption (and before you get too proud, remember Chicago, Louisiana, and the Big Dig in Boston), being a guard is a very very lucrative position.

IR in the desert is unreliable, at certain times of the day. The desert sand is hot in the afternoon, and cools off at night. The wide range gives you two windows of opportunity to cross.

Ultraviolet looks specifically for shadows from the UV reflected first from the sky, and second from the ground. Why is UV more effective than plan optical cameras? Any dope can make a camouflage outfit that matches the ground in the optical range. You have to know the specific frequencies of UV in the cameras to match the UV signature.

Of course shooting out the cameras would work a little bit, but cameras.

Ultraviolet looks specifically for shadows from the UV...

Your explanation is good, and it sounds like you have direct knowledge of this approach. If you do, that would tend to settle it for me.

Two of the "standard" approaches to night vision video surveillance that seem likely to work (even in the hot desert) are:

IR illumination (i.e., NOT thermal imaging). This approach is known as Image Enhancement or Image Intensification. These camera/IR-spotlight systems use IR at shorter wavelength than thermal-infrared. Shining a shorter-wavelength-than-thermal-IR light on the field provides illumination capable of imaging with far greater detail than thermal imagining.
A very low light level CCD camera that uses a back illuminated CCD. This design permits photons to enter the CCD unobstructed, allowing for high efficiency light detection in the visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. The sensitivity of the CCD in the near UV makes this conventional night vision camera amenable for use in a system that could be portrayed as a special UV imaging system.