BOMCA 9 Border Management Programme in Central Asia (9Th

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1 BOMCA 9

Border Management Programme in Central Asia (9th phase)

Newsletter №9 (2018) Programme is funded under the EU Development Co-operation Instrument (DCI)

implementation of all planned BOMCA overview activities and allows us to reach the results this programme is aiming for. Since its launch in 2003, the various Now the project has reached the phases of the BOMCA programme stage where it is necessary to have focused on capacity building consider retrospectively and assess and institutional development, de- what has been done, how national veloping trade corridors, improving partners have built upon BOMCA border management systems and support (recommendations) to strenthen their institutional capacity, eliminating drug trafficking across and what is still is pending. BOMCA the Central Asian region. Each new management is very much looking phase of BOMCA has been designed forward to the upcoming Regional to gradually build upon and consoli- Steering Group meeting, which shall take place on 28 November in date the results achieved in the pre- Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where ceding phases. During its earlier discussion with beneficiary agencies phases, the programme channelled on the status of the implementation its resources towards creating mod- of provided recommendations is ern border management infrastruc- foresеen. ture in five Central Asian countries. Dear Friends, Maris Domins Capitalising on the success of previ- The 9th phase of BOMCA programme BOMCA Regional manager ous phases, this 9th phase intends to is extended until December 14th, continue interventions in the area of 2019— such a decision was made by In this edition: the European Commission and sup- institutional development, manage- ported by all five Central Asian States. Kazakhstan hosts the 3rd Con- 2 ment of migration flows and trade The consortium of partners imple- ference of Regional Cooperati- facilitation. Its overall objective is to menting BOMCA is pleased to contin- on in the field of Border Securi- increase the effectiveness and effi- ue our joint work with the national Training of trainers on fight 3 ciency of border management in partners for another 18 months. against corruption in Kyrgyzs- Central Asia by introducing ad- In the extension period, the pro- tan gramme will continue its efforts under vanced elements of Integrated Bor- three main components, covering in- Studying European experience 3 der Management (IBM), assisting stitutional development of border in education of border guards governments in developing and re- management agencies, the institu- BOMCA transfers the 4 forming their migration governance, tional framework for the management equipment to Kyrgyz and Tajik mobility and trade facilitation poli- of mixed migration flows and the Border Services adoption of trade facilitation regimes. cies and strengthening capacities of I am a senior staff officer of the Latvi- Improving the legal framework 4 Border and Migration Agencies, an State Border Guard, which is the in the sphere of migration ma- thereby contributing to enhanced leading partner of the BOMCA 9 im- nagement in Kyrgyzstan security at the national and regional plementing Consortium. Being ap- pointed for the extension period as the Strengthening interagency 5 levels. cooperation for effective con- The 9th phase of BOMCA pro- Regional Manager, my main task is to broaden the already established tingency planning gramme was launched in June 2015 cooperation and to ensure the Improving the practical skills 5 for 36 months with a total budget of succession and sustainability of the of Uzbek customs and border almost 5mln Euros. In June 2018, the actions implemented over past three authorities in detection of Programme was extended until De- years. smuggled goods Current assessments show that we cember 14th, 2019 with an addition- Turkmen and Uzbek Customs 6 al funding of almost 1,6 mln Euros. have reached a high level of cooperation and trust between the Improve Their Skills in use of BOMCA project and beneficiaries, Criminal and Cyber Intelli- which leads to successful gence

Programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Consortium led by the State Border Guard of Latvia

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission 2

Component 1: Institutional development of border management agencies

The objective of Component 1 is to sustain institutional development of border guard agencies in their transition to more effective methods of border management. The third quarter of 2018 was marked by numerous events, including training, technical missions and study visits, which aimed to strengthen the sustainable capacity of the border agencies in the region.

Kazakhstan hosts the 3rd Conference of Regional Cooperation in the field of Border Security

On 24-25 July 2018 in Borovoye, marily on ways to address cross- tion in order to increase joint ef- Kazakhstan, BOMCA organised border challenges in Central Asia. forts; further strengthening coop- rd the 3 Conference for Regional The key topics on the agenda for eration in the exchange of opera- Cooperation on the topic of Bor- thematic panel discussions were: tive information and good prac- der Security in Central Asia (Issyk- general challenges in the field of tices; continuing joint efforts to Kul Initiative), which gathered border management in Central combat illegal drug trafficking in over fifty participants to discuss Asia and Afghanistan; the gradual the context of measures taken by modern challenges in border se- introduction of the integrated the world community, including curity and ways to address them. border management approach by the Government of the Islamic Participants at the event included and its advantages of more effec- Republic of Afghanistan and inter- Heads and senior officials of bor- tive border management; and national organisations; and pro- der agencies in Kazakhstan, Kyr- the needs and priorities for ca- moting joint risk analysis and gyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, pacity building in border agencies threat assessment, including the Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran, of Central Asia and Afghanistan. exchange of preliminary infor- as well as international bodies mation in order to better predict and programmes working in the During the panel discussions, del- potential threats, timely identifi- field of border security, such as egates discussed current threats cation, escalation tracking and BOMNAF, FRONTEX and the CIS affecting border security in Cen- prevention, and communicating Border Troops Commanders tral Asia and exchanged views on the information directly to stake- Council. modern technologies useful for holders. the strengthening of the Since 2011, under the framework agencies’ capabilities. Additional Final conclusions of the confer- of the Issyk-Kul Initiative, Central attention was paid to the need ence will be used to formulate the Asian border agencies come to- for close cooperation and ex- areas of action of the BOMCA pro- gether regularly in a regional fo- change of information among gramme after 2019 and to deter- rum for cooperation and infor- stakeholders. mine prospects for cooperation in mation exchange in the field of the security sector in the context border security in Central Asia. The participants agreed upon of the development of the new further strengthening of inter- European Union-Central Asia Co- The conference was focused pri- state and inter-agency coopera- operation Strategy.

Programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Consortium led by the State Border Guard of Latvia

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission 3 Training of trainers on fight against corruption in Kyrgyzstan

BOMCA experts conducted the train- The format of the event, training of ry missions in Kyrgyzstan to sup- ing of trainers on anti-corruption trainers (ToT) was chosen specifi- port the adoption of an Anti- measures for the representatives of cally for this activity in order to in- corruption plan for law enforce- the State Border Service, State Cus- crease sustainability of the results. ment agencies. Therefore, this toms Service and the State Inspec- ToT equips national experts not ToT session further contributes to tion of Veterinary and Phytosanitary only with knowledge on anti- the introduction of anti- Security. corruption measures, but also with corruption measures, in accord- The activity took place from 11 to 13 skills to be able to effectively trans- ance with international law en- September 2018 in Issyk-Kul. BOMCA fer this knowledge within their in- forcement standards and norms, experts, together with their national stitutions. and thereby increases of the ef- counterparts, shared experiences in Previously, the programme had fectiveness of the border man- relation to the fight against corrup- conducted several technical adviso- agement system in Central Asia. tion and the effective provision and standardisation of public services. During the three-day workshop, the experts reviewed the organisational structure and the regular duties and procedures of the relevant agencies in Kyrgyzstan, and carried out an assessment of consistency in organisational tasks, competences and rights and obligations of employ- ees. Real and potential risks of corruption were reviewed; the resili- ence of institutions against corruption was assessed and specific cases of corruption were analysed. During the practical exercise, participants defined the highest-risk zones as well as factors and circumstances contributing to corruption.

Studying European experience in the education of border guards

During this activity, participants tion mechanisms at the regional and were invited to visit the Latvian Bor- local levels, the functional structure der Guard College and Estonian and the technical means used in Police and Border Guard College, managing migration flows, “green” where they presented the approach border surveillance models and and methodology used in Kazakh- good practices from the Latvian- stan. The guests became acquaint- Russian border (at the Ludza Border ed with the Latvian experience in Guard Section). Practical aspects the field of law enforcement train- such as border control procedures ing and the professional develop- and technical means, green border ment of border guards as well as monitoring and joint investigative On 2-4 October 2018, BOMCA or- cooperation mechanisms among tactics were demonstrated to partic- ganised a study visit in Latvia and European professional training in- ipants on the spot during site visits Estonia for representatives of man- stitutions. In addition, the topics of to the border checkpoints. agement from the Border Service Training of Trainers, protection of Academy of the Kazakh State Securi- green borders in different physical The study visit was organised with ty Committee. The delegates had an and geographical conditions, train- the aim to assist the further devel- opportunity to learn about Europe- ing of K-9 and border control spe- opment and improvement of the an experiences in the education of cialists, professional development educational and training capacity of border guards with the larger objec- and the retraining of human re- the Kazakh Border Service Academy, tive of encouraging and supporting sources for border agencies were to develop competencies and to the educational and training capaci- discussed. enhance the qualifications of the academic and training staff. ty for cooperation in the field of Participants had the opportunity to border management in Central Asia. learn about examples of coopera-

Programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Consortium led by the State Border Guard of Latvia

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission 4

ComponentStandards of 2: Assistance Institutional to Vulnerable framework Migrants for management Discussed inof Bishkek mixed migrationand Ashgabat flows at borders

BOMCA transfers the equipment to Kyrgyz and Tajik Border Services

Further development of the legal cies in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and contribute to the prevention of and procedural instruments, intro- were enriched by video surveil- corruption and illegal activities by duction of advanced practices of lance systems with a total cost of border guards and people crossing cross-border mobility and address- 96,000 euros, consisting of servers, the border. ing the multifaceted challenges indoor and outdoor IP cameras, caused by mixed migration flows are LED monitors and hard drives. The the key objectives of Component 2. purchased systems will strengthen A series of workshops and technical the capacities of border service missions were carried out, the technical equipment in remote equipment purchased and trans- border crossing points, which will ferred to beneficiaries allow for enhanced profiling of persons crossing the border, crea- The main focus of the BOMCA pro- tion, storage and analysis of data gramme is capacity-building in the on perpetrators and potentially realm of ‘soft’ components, namely dangerous persons, and to effi- to strengthen professional skills and ciently transmit information to the expertise in the relevant areas. At Headquarters. Corresponding the same time, the programme offers BOMCA activities target the opti- certain room for technical support in misation of border control, provi- the form of equipment provided to sion of services to migrants and Central Asian beneficiary countries. the fight against corruption, and Between June-October 2018, tech- the equipment provided will im- nical capacities of the Border agen- prove the quality of border control

Strengthening the legal framework for migration management in Kyrgyzstan

The review of the Kyrgyz Republic which also took place with staff from legislation in the field of migration the State Migration and Registration management and the fight against Services under the Government of illegal migration was done by an the KR, the Kyrgyz Ministry of For- expert team consisting of European eign Affairs, the Kyrgyz Ministry of and national experts, between April Internal Affairs, the Kyrgyz State and June. Experts identified obsta- Committee for National Security and cles in implementing the legislation the Kyrgyz State Border Service, on and the measures to be taken to the subject of challenges faced with- eliminate them. in the implementation of Kyrgyz On September 12, 2018 results of First, a desk review of the current laws on migration management and On 12 September 2018, recom- tackling illegal migration. mendations to the migration- legal and regulatory acts was con- related national legislation, devel- ducted to identify any conflicts, con- As a result of this activity, recom- oped with expert support from tradictions or norms that have not mendations for the Kyrgyz Govern- BOMCA, were presented to Gov- been implemented in the government and the relevant authorities ernment agencies – namely the ment decisions, in the sphere of were developed, aiming to improve Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minis- migration management and tackling the legal and regulatory framework try of Internal Affairs, State Border illegal migration. in the sphere of migration manage- Service, State Migration service, The desk review was supplemented ment and tackling illegal migration. State Registration Service. by a series of expert interviews

Programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Consortium led by the State Border Guard of Latvia

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission 5 Strengthening inter-agency cooperation towards better contingency planning

On 16-18 October 2018 in Bishkek, ed to participants. An example based including a mass inflow of migrants. a workshop was held on contingen- on the Latvian experience was pre- The broader goal of this BOMCA cy planning at border checkpoints, sented to the participants, of an ad- activity was to assist in strengthen- gathering representatives of differ- vanced coordination mechanism that ing effective mechanisms to facili- ent state agencies of Kyrgyzstan: ensures appropriate and effective tate the prompt exchange of infor- Border and Customs Services, Min- cooperative response measures. mation and actions of institutions istry of Interior and State National During the workshop, a draft of joint involved in border security. Similar Security Committee, Ministry of instructions on interagency operat- activities were already conducted Emergencies, Ministry of Agricul- ing procedures was elaborated; spec- in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and ture. ifying roles, responsibilities and Uzbekistan, and are planned for During theoretical sessions and working methods for different emer- Kazakhstan in March 2019. practical exercises in working gency situations at the checkpoints, groups, BOMCA experts, together with national counterparts, reviewed the existing legal and nor- mative frameworks related to different kinds of emergency situations at the checkpoints and related operational procedures, including the organisational structure of the contingency planning and operational requirements. During the visit to Kyrgyz-Kazakh border checkpoint “Ak-Zhol”, capacity, resources and operational procedures of the checkpoint personnel were present-

Component 3: Adoption of trade facilitation regimes at borders Polishing skills of Uzbek authorities in detecting smuggled goods and means of transport

Component 3 aims to introduce taking into account techniques used factors in controlling vehicles and to search for contraband and smug- goods, to identify forged seals and measures to improve the efficien- gled goods in vehicles and contain- modified containers and for how cy of controls and procedures ap- ers. to use various technical tools dur- plicable to goods and means of Customs and border guard officers of ing customs inspections. This initia- transport , thus facilitating region- tive contributes to the increase in al and international trade Uzbekistan were acquainted with the customs experiences of Lithuania efficiency during inspection and and other EU MSs, and were given a working procedures related to On 25-27 September 2018, the smuggled goods. BOMCA expert team conducted a practical exercise to assess the risk three-day workshop in Tashkent to improve the practical skills of customs and border authorities in the prevention and detection of illegal trafficking of goods and means of transport. The training aimed to enhance practices and techniques used by customs administrations of Uzbekistan with good practices from the EU MSs. The training cov- ered topics such as the inspection of luggage, personal belongings, cargo and containers, while also

Programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Consortium led by the State Border Guard of Latvia

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission 6

Workshop on customs control of strategic goods in Ashgabat tems in Turkmenistan. By reviewing and consolidating various existing national and international regulations, the national and European experts exchanged experience and practices in areas such as customs controls of import, export and the transit of strategic and dual use goods, military weapons, chemi- cal substances (ozone-depleting substances, dangerous chemicals, etc.), non-food products, endangered species of fauna and flora, protection of intellectual property rights, customs control on radiation and international sanctions in relation to military weapons. This BOMCA activity raises aware- On 26-30 June 2018, the BOMCA the protection of intellectual prop- ness and equips specific technical expert team met with national part- erty rights and to develop new knowledge in preparation for the ners from Turkmen customs to joint- working tools to combat illegal accession to and/or implementation ly review existing procedures on cus- trade, fraud, etc. This BOMCA activi- of international conventions, thus toms control of strategic goods, dual ty aimed to provide technical assis- facilitating the introduction of ad- use goods, endangered species of tance in the development and im- vanced, effective and trade-friendly fauna and flora (CITES Convention), provement of risk management sys- customs controls. International practice on criminal investigation in risk management is introduced to Uz- bek and Turkmen Customs officers ous existing national and international regulations, national and Eu- ropean experts exchanged experience and practices on criminal investigation and its principles and the interconnectivity of e-intelligence with risk management. Integration of criminal investigation into the risk analysis system will promote a more harmonised approach to customs control and create a more transpar- ent, up-to-date and effective system of import controls, allowing more coherence and integration in the different control mechanisms in- place. This activity contributed to the development and improvement of risk On 24-27 October 2018 in Ashgabat, and local experts gathered to dis- management systems, and empha- and 6-8 November 2018 in Tash- cuss the practical application of sises that proper risk management kent, technical assistance missions criminal investigations in customs in the area of customs is one of the were held on criminal investigations control. most important preconditions for in risk management. International By reviewing and consolidating vari- trade facilitation.

Programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Consortium led by the State Border Guard of Latvia

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission 7

For more information:

Ms. Janna Tashieva National Coordinator/Regional Communications Officer [email protected] +996312 902576

www.bomca-eu.org

Programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Consortium led by the State Border Guard of Latvia The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission