On February 27- March 01 a Regional Training of Trainers on profiling at border checkpoints was held in Almaty in cooperation with the OSCE Programme Office and the INL Bureau (US Embassy). The event gathered lecturers of training institutions from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
On 21-23 February, in Ashgabat, and 26-28 February, in Tashkent, two workshops on the identification and profiling of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) were conducted, building upon results of activities conducted in 2016, where border guards and law enforcement officers were trained on basic profiling and identification techniques. The workshops gathered European experts and professionals from the border and law enforcement agencies of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in order to improve and enhance existing mechanisms and strengthen the cooperation and interaction of the concerned agencies.
On February 13-15 2018, a group of Kazakh Border Guard Academy trainers visited Bishkek with the aim of exchanging knowledge and teaching experiences with their Kyrgyz colleagues – trainers from the Border Service Training Center and Armed Forces Military Institute of the Kyrgyz Republic.
A three-day national training course for canine officers from the Border and Customs agencies of Uzbekistan was held in Tashkent on 6-8 February 2018. Dog handlers from the State Border Guard Committee of the National Security Service and the Customs Committee of Uzbekistan examined international K-9 practices and shared lessons learned from their own professional experience.
On January 29-February 2, 2018, upon the invitation of the Kyrgyz Government, a BOMCA expert team came to Kyrgyzstan to assist the State Customs Service in the update and actualization of its anti-corruption plan. During the five-day joint work with the Heads and staff of the main departments involved in customs control, the experts jointly reviewed the organizational structure, duties, and procedures within the Kyrgyz Customs, and carried out an assessment of conformity of organizational tasks, competences, rights, and obligations of the employees. Real and potential risks of corruption were reviewed and specific cases of corruption were analysed. As a main result of the Technical Mission, the Intra-agency Action Plan on the fight against corruption was updated with short-term and medium-term objectives and priorities. Also, a set of recommendations was developed on structure optimisation, increasing transparency, and control processes.
The effective risk management system in customs is a powerful tool that allows authorities to focus on the most risky areas of border control, to differentiate those involved in trade and, consequently, to keep a proper balance between the facilitation of legitimate trade and prevention of illegal activities in the international trade chain. Thus, it is important to ensure that such a system is in place and is implemented properly by customs/border guard officers. To this end, on January 29-31, a BOMCA expert team met with national partners from the Tajik Customs to jointly assess the existing national practices and procedures for risk analysis and criminal investigation in customs clearance and control. This BOMCA activity aimed to provide technical assistance in the development and improvement of the risk management systems in the Central Asian countries.
Technical assistance missions on joint risk analysis for border agencies continue in 2018.
On 12-15 December in Ashgabat a workshop on standards of assistance to vulnerable migrants was conducted. The event served as a forum for governmental stakeholders and European experts to exchange experience and explore the international standards for in providing basic services to vulnerable migrants, including readmission. Over the course of the three-day workshop, government counterparts and BOMCA experts from International Center on Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and State Border Guards of Latvia shared findings and discussed ways to respond to the needs of victims of trafficking (VoTs) and migrants in accordance with international standards and best practices.
