OSCE organizes intensive training course on border management for its Mediterranean Points of Contact Network in Malta

Members of the OSCE Mediterranean Points of Contact Network on border security and management completed an intensive and interactive five-day training course on various topics related to their work on 29 June 2018 at the headquarters of the Malta Police Force in Floriana.

Organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in close co-operation with the Malta Police Force and the Academy for Disciplined Forces of Malta, the training course brought together members of the Network, which was created in 2017. International experts on border security and countering trafficking in human beings from the United States and the United Kingdom together with staff from the OSCE’s Border Security and Management Unit conducted the course.

The participants, represented by border and customs services of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, were provided with in-depth presentations and undertook practical exercises on risk analysis and management. They discussed risk targeting, risk profiling, data ownership information and information sharing, and strategic, operational and tactical structures and procedures.

The Mediterranean Points of Contact were familiarized with the differences between the smuggling and trafficking of human beings, the respective legal frameworks in the Mediterranean region and interviewing techniques to be used when working with victims of human trafficking. They also engaged in exercises on mainstreaming gender in border security and shared experiences and good practices on implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

This training course was the fourth activity of a multi-year OSCE initiative aimed at strengthening co-operation mechanisms between the border security and management agencies of the OSCE participating States and the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation.