News

On 27 May, BOMCA hosted the National Steering Group (NSG) Meeting in Turkmenistan, which gathered the main BOMCA national counterparts in the country – the State Border Service, the State Customs Service, the State Migration Service, the State Service on Plant Quarantine and the State Veterinary Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, and the State Sanitary-epidemiological Service of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry – as well as representatives from the EU and the BOMCA Consortium.

From 18-20 May in Kazakhstan and 23-25 May in Tajikistan BOMCA carried out a technical mission in order to support the border agencies of both countries in their efforts to improve the efficiency of green border surveillance and develop risk analysis. For this purpose BOMCA invited the expert Mr. Dzintars Pavārnieks, Associate Professor at the Department for Border Guard and Immigration Service State Border Guard College of the Latvian Republic, who met key national partners from the border authorities of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

BOMCA is continuing its support for the professional development of the programme’s national partners. As part of this, between 11 May and 18 May a series of national workshops were held in Dushanbe and Bishkek respectively, facilitated by EU experts from the State Revenue Service of the Republic of Latvia and the State Border Guard of the Republic of Latvia. The workshops gathered national experts from the border guard, customs, and phytosanitary and veterinary services of the Kyrgyz Republic. In total, over 30 partners took part in the workshops and expanded their knowledge and skills in the area of proper HR management, financial planning and control. 

Duration: 16 May – 15 June 2016 

Objective

• To encourage children to demonstrate  their talents and creativity
• To facilitate the positive attitude of children towards people carrying duties at borders – border guards,  customs, phytosanitary and veterinary service officers
• To show the professionalism and cooperation of people working at borders

Between 27-28 April Bishkek hosted the 12th Central Asia Border Security Initiative (CABSI) Conference, gathering over a hundred international participants to discuss a modern integrated border management (IBM) approach to strengthening the security of borders while facilitating legitimate movements and trade. The conference is the result of a cooperation between the EU, the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Border Management in Central Asia Programme (BOMCA), with the support of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Participants at the event included officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, EU Member States – Austria, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries playing an important role in the region, as well as key international actors in the field of migration such as ICMPD, IOM, UNHCR, and UNODC.  

A two-day regional workshop on a common training system for customs officers was held in Bishkek from 5-6 April . The workshop was facilitated by European experts from Riga Technical University and the State Revenue Service of Latvia and gathered professionals from customs agencies and higher educational institutions from Central Asia. The wide audience of the workshop was made up by senior-level customs officials and human resources officers, academics and university staff from major universities in Central Asia, such as the Kazakh National University, the Kyrgyz National University, the Finance and Economic Institute of Tajikistan, the State University of Commerce of Tajikistan, and the Higher Military Customs Institute of the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan.

From 28-30 March BOMCA-invited training experts conducted a national workshop on human resources management and financial planning and control for relevant national experts from the customs, border and phytosanitary agencies of Kazakhstan. The EU expert team consisting of senior management representatives from the State Revenue Service and the State Border Service of Latvia brought their knowledge and expertise to be shared with Kazakh partners.

Between March 9 and March 18 BOMCA-invited trainer-expert Mr. Juris Madzuls, Lecturer at the State Border Guard College of Latvia, conducted national workshops on identification and profiling techniques for relevant national experts from the Border Service of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, the Migration Police Department of the Ministry of Interior of Kazakhstan, the State Border Service of the Kyrgyz Republic, the State Migration Service of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, and the State Security Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic. 38 officers and officials from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan participated in 3-day training workshops in Astana and Bishkek respectively.