OSCE Border Management Staff College concludes its 28th Staff Course
The OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) concluded its 28th Staff Course on 24 March 2021. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on travel, this particular course was conducted only for local Tajik border security and management officials.
The one-month course, delivered in a blended learning style, provided practical exercises and covered seven modules that present the OSCE’s integrated approach to effective border security and management.
Thirty mid-to-senior level border officials from customs and drug control agencies, border troops, migration service, and the customs department of the Tajik State University of Finance and Economics participated in the course.
Jonathan Holland, Director of the BMSC, said: "Students represented five different Tajik agencies and institutions and we hope to see good results in terms of learning that emphasizes the multi-agency approach in border security management.”
Topics covered during the course included risk assessment in border security, countering terrorism, addressing human rights in border security, trade facilitation, trafficking in persons as well as transnational threats to border management. Interactive classroom sessions were complemented by two study visits to the K-9 Centre of Tajikistan Drug Control Agency and the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Customs Service under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Ashur Karimov, a graduate of this Staff Course, highlighted that the course offered a chance to share ideas on various border-related challenges such as irregular migration, illicit trafficking, and cybercrime. “I will implement in practice the knowledge and skills on effective conflict management, leadership and active listening which I have acquired during this one-month course”.
A roundtable discussion on the 70th Anniversary of the convention related to the status of refugees and the massive flow of displaced people in the context of border security management was organized as part of the course. Representatives of government agencies, diplomatic missions, subject area experts as well as participants of the 28th Staff Course exchanged views and participated in the event.
Lola Rahmonova, a graduate of this Staff Course, said that she especially enjoyed the efforts of the experts and organizers to bring together all participants by conducting practical exercises, group research work, roundtable discussions, as well as field study trips.