News

• Thematic Component: General
• Country: Kazakhstan

On September 5-6, 2022, in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia – Phase 10 (BOMCA 10) started the first round of its National Project Steering Group (NSG). The meeting was aimed at reviewing the Programme’s progress for the year and to define plans for the upcoming period. For this purpose, the Programme’s leadership, representatives of the European Union and implementing partners met with the key partners, such as state agencies and international organisations.

• Thematic Component: 2. Improvement of Detection Capacities
• Country: Turkmenistan

From August 2-4, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia held a workshop in Ashgabat for the personnel of Investigation Units of the Border Guard and Law Enforcement Agencies of Turkmenistan. The workshop familiarised forensic experts with modern evidence collection methods including first responders’ responsibilities and actions avoiding the contamination of crime scenes. This is the second workshop of its kind conducted by the BOMCA Programme in the Central Asian region, following similar activity implemented in July of this year in Uzbekistan.

• Thematic Component: 2. Improvement of Detection Capacities
• Country: Kyrgyzstan

From August 2 to 4, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia held a workshop in Bishkek for representatives of the border guard and law enforcement agencies of Kyrgyzstan on cooperation with INTERPOL. The participants familiarized themselves with legal, procedural and technical solutions for cooperation with and running of activities through INTERPOL.

• Thematic Component: 1. Institutional Development of Border Control Agencies
• Country: Kazakhstan

From 25-28 July of this year, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA), in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Agency (UNHCHR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) held a national workshop on international standards in identification, detention and return of irregular migrants in Nur-Sultan. Representatives of the Committee for Migration Service, the Police Department of Nur-Sultan city and the Administrative Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the Border Service and 2nd Department, National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan took part in the event. This is the fifth workshop of its kind conducted by the BOMCA Programme in the Central Asian region, which concludes a series of similar workshops implemented in each country of the region.

• Thematic Component: 2. Improvement of Detection Capacities
• Country: All region, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

On July 25, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia started a training of trainers (ToT) course for dog handling instructors specialising in drug searches in Latvia. H.E.   Mr. Timur Primbetov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Latvia, and Mr. Kristaps Eklons, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, took part at the opening of the event. The training course is a three-month event gathering five trainers, one from each country of Central Asia, and it aims to improve theoretical and practical knowledge during in-training of canine teams and service dogs used for daily border guarding tasks, including the detection of drugs. 

• Thematic Component: 1. Institutional Development of Border Control Agencies
• Country: Turkmenistan

From July 26-28, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia held a national workshop in Ashgabat that enhanced the cooperation between border guard, migration and customs authorities of Turkmenistan. The workshop also optimised the border and customs controls at checkpoints across the state border. This is the fourth workshop of its kind conducted by the BOMCA Programme in the Central Asian region, following similar activities implemented this year in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

• Thematic Component: 3. Facilitation of Trade

From July 19 to 21, 2022, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia organised a technical assistance mission, in the form of a meeting on analysis of the current customs legislation in the transit area, gathering experts from the EU Member States and Tajik national experts on the development of a national transit declaration/control system. The mission assisted the Tajikistan Customs Administration with reviewing existing national transit systems, in applying the Transit Internationaux Routier (TIR) Convention, identifying gaps in legislation and relevant administrative instructions on transit regimes, and developing recommendations for further improvement. This mission continues a series of national activities in the region – similar workshops were implemented in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in 2021 and Kyrgyzstan in March 2022. 

• Thematic Component: 2. Improvement of Detection Capacities
• Country: All region, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

From July 19 to 21 the Border Management Programme in Central Asia, in partnership with the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating the Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors (CARICC), held its second regional workshop for representatives of border guard services and law enforcement institutions of all five countries in Central Asia. The participants learned about modern methods and tools of crime analysis, information exchange and other forms of cooperation during investigation of cross-border organized crimes.