OSCE supports workshop on best practices in border surveillance for Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tajik border officials

Kazakh participants drawing the scheme of border surveillance system of Kazakhstan during the Best Practices in Border Surveillance workshop in Dushanbe, 26 August 2016. (OSCE/Ozoda Nurmatova)

DUSHANBE, 26 August 2016 - A five-day OSCE-supported workshop for twenty border officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on best practices in border surveillance concluded today at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe.

The workshop was a combination of lectures and hands-on exercises during which the participants exchanged experiences and learned about modern border surveillance systems. Among the topics discussed were strengths and weaknesses, needs and tasks of border structures; external and internal influences; co-operation enhancement requirements, and interoperability between forces on the spot.

“The prevention of illegal cross-border activities and the fight against criminal networks implies the implementation of thorough and comprehensive surveillance and control systems at borders,” said Dita Nowicka, Director of the OSCE Border Management Staff College. She noted that the event demonstrated the need to discuss the existing and emerging threats as well as further enhancement of co-operation between border professionals from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Urszula Młodziejowska-Seredyn, an expert from the Polish Border Guard Headquarters, said: “This workshop is both a challenge and an opportunity for experts and participants. Exchange of best practices is a mutual advantage. The workshop resulted in a better understanding of the existing challenges and the ways to help prevent them.”

The event was organized by the OSCE Border Management Staff College and the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program of the US State Department.