First deployment of OSCE Mobile Training Team to address cross-border challenges in identifying foreign terrorist fighters

SARAJEVO, 25 May – The newly established OSCE Mobile Training Team for the identification of foreign terrorist fighters delivered its first on-site interactive training course from 23 to 25 May in Sarajevo. During the three-day event, 22 border officers from airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina learned how to identify potential foreign terrorist fighters at the border crossing points in compliance with international human rights standards.

The programme included discussions on international, regional and national legal frameworks, effective use of databases, detection of forged travel documents, risk analysis and management, understanding of behavioural indicators and table top exercises. The training seminar was delivered by members of the OSCE Mobile Training Team, from Austria, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta and Spain.  Expert speakers from OSCE, INTERPOL and UNHCR supported the event by sharing their knowledge and expertise.

“The phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters presents a complex set of risks and challenges to international and regional security. It is therefore important for border officers, especially those working on the front lines at the airports, to upgrade their skills and knowledge to better identify them at the borders,” said Miro Sucic, a member of the OSCE Mobile Training Team, of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The identification of foreign terrorist fighters at the borders is a critically important task for border services. In the absence of sufficient time or intelligence, the ability to understand psychological and behavioral indicators is a useful tool,” said Dennis Cosgrove Head of Border Security and Management Unit of OSCE Transnational Threats Department.

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, including a representative from Bosnia and Herzegovina.