OSCE Mobile Training Team trains Georgian border officers in Batumi to enhance their capacities to identify foreign terrorist fighters

The OSCE Mobile Training Team delivered an interactive training course on the identification of foreign terrorist fighters at the borders for 25 first- and second-line border officers from 8 to 10 October 2019 in Batumi, Georgia.

The training focused on international, regional and national legal frameworks, risk analysis and management, travel documents security, advance passenger information and behavioural indicators.

The importance of improved knowledge regarding risk analysis models applied to foreign terrorist fighters and the history, trends and current cases of such individuals were emphasized during the course. The attending border officers engaged in practical training sessions on the detection of forged documents and imposters as well as in exercises to deepen their understanding of indicators in the behaviour of foreign terrorist fighters.

The highlight of the training was a visit to the Georgian-Turkish border check point Sarpi, where participants were familiarized with the history of its demarcation, the modus operandi regarding the identification of criminal activities at the border and the challenges related to its location directly at the black sea.

The course was delivered by the OSCE Mobile Training Team represented by national border officers from Georgia, Greece, Romania and Spain together with international experts from the OSCE and the South Caucasus Office on Drugs and Crime (SCODC), who shared their knowledge and expertise.

The OSCE Mobile Training Teams, composed of 23 selected border and counter-terrorism experts from OSCE participating States, were established by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in 2016 and 2019.