On 08 July 2016, BOMCA Programme facilitated the 6th meeting of the Inter-Agency Commission (Commission) on Development and Implementation of the Integrated Border Management (IBM) system in the Kyrgyz Republic, which on high level steers and coordinates the efforts of all agencies involved in implementation of the National IBM Strategy for 2012 – 2022.
In July, the Award Ceremonies for the drawing contest “People working at borders” were held in in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with participation of European Union Delegations, BOMCA and beneficiary agencies. The competition was announced on May, 15 2016 and invited children (9-14 y.o.) to present their vision on border guards’ work and daily life in an artistic way.
Between 22-24 June BOMCA-invited trainer-experts Ms. Gunta Laganovska, Chief of the Examination Service of the State Border Guard of Latvia, and Mr. Tibor Kovács, international consultant, conducted regional training of trainers workshops on document security for relevant national experts from border agency training institutions and border control officers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The event was organised in cooperation with OSCE.
On 20 June, the BOMCA Programme hosted the National Steering Group (NSG) meeting in Tajikistan, which gathered the main BOMCA national counterparts – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Border Troops, the Customs Service, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment, the State Inspection Service on Phyto-sanitary and Plant Quarantine and the State Service of Veterinary Control of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the State Sanitary-epidemiologic Service of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, as well as representatives from the EU and the BOMCA programme consortium.
As part of BOMCA’s commitment to share law enforcement “best practices” and demonstrate practical joint work of EU border agencies as well as modern approaches in the field of border security, the State Border Guard of Latvia hosted a study visit of Central Asian delegates from border, customs, migration, veterinary and phytosanitary agencies between 14-16 June.
Between 8-10 June invited EU experts from the Customs Authority of the Republic of Lithuania facilitated working meetings with key national partners from the Customs Service of Tajikistan. During the working meetings the compatibility of the national legislation of Tajikistan with the General Annex of the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) was assessed and accession measures on reform and improvement of the customs legislation were evaluated.
A technical assistance mission on implementation of certain chapters of the National Strategy of Integrated Border Management in Kyrgyzstan (IBM Strategy) was held in Bishkek between 7-10 June. The expert team, consisting of Col. Vladimirs Zaguzovs, Head of Administration at the Latvian Border Guards and Prof. Normunds Rudzitis, Professor at Riga Technical University, conducted a series of bilateral and joint meetings with the main IBM actors in Kyrgyzstan, including the Prime Minister’s Office, the State Border Service, the State Customs Service and other ministries and agencies involved in border management in Kyrgyzstan.
From 1-3 June in Tajikistan and 6-8 June in Kazakhstan, BOMCA carried out technical missions in order to share international best practices on irregular migration management and readmission procedures. For this purpose BOMCA invited experts Mr. Rui Paulo Alexandre Dias Zilhão from the Immigration and Border Service of Portugal and Ms. Anzelika Alika from the State Border Guard of Latvia to meet key national partners from the relevant law enforcement authorities in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan in order to discuss national legislation and advanced international practices on dealing with vulnerable groups of migrants passing through borders, as well as to explore the legislation of the EU countries in relation to working with such migrant groups.
