OSCE Mobile Training Team trains border and security officers from Tajikistan on identifying foreign terrorist fighters

The OSCE’s Mobile Training Team delivered an interactive training course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters to 20 female and male border and security officers from Tajikistan from 13 to 15 March 2018 in Dushanbe.

The deployment of the Mobile Training Team, the fourth of its kind, was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department.

Over the three-day training course, participants learned how to identify potential foreign terrorist fighters at the border crossing points in compliance with international human rights standards. The programme focused on international, regional and national legal frameworks, international humanitarian law, the effective use of databases, the detection of forged travel documents, risk analysis and management and understanding behavioural indicators.

“The border officers of Tajikistan are the key front liners in responding to transnational threats stemming from border areas,” said Fejzo Numanaj, Head of the Politico-Military Department of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, as he opened the course. “The frequent upgrade of their skills is a strategic necessity in order to make the border institutions able to adequately tackle contemporary border security challenges, like the identification of foreign terrorist fighters at the borders in line with international human rights law.”

The course was interactive and also included table top exercises. It was delivered by members of the OSCE Mobile Training Team from Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia and Ukraine. Expert speakers from OSCE, INTERPOL and the Asia-Pacific Foundation supported the event by sharing their knowledge and expertise.

The OSCE Mobile Training Team, established by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in 2016, is composed of 17 selected border and counter-terrorism experts from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.