On October 2-4, 2018 BOMCA organized a study visit in Latvia and Estonia for management representatives of Border Service Academy of Kazakh State Security Committee who were given an opportunity to learn from the European experience and observe on the spot the functioning of partner Latvian and Estonian educational institutions. The aim of this BOMCA activity is to encourage and support educational and training capacity cooperation in the field of border management in Central Asia.

Participants were invited to visit Latvian Border Guard College and Estonian Police and Border Guard College. The guests got acquainted with Latvian experience in the field of law enforcement training and professional development of border guards, and cooperation mechanisms among European professional training institutions. Also, such topics as Training-of-Trainers, protection of green borders in different physical and geographical conditions, professional development and retraining of human resources for border agencies, training of K-9 specialists, and training of border control specialists were discussed.

Participants also visited the Ludza Border Guard Sections where examples of cooperation mechanisms at the regional and local levels, the functional structure and the technical means used in managing migration flows were presented to them together, along with “green” border surveillance models and best practices at the Latvian-Russian border. 

Such practical aspects as border control procedures and technical means, green border monitoring and joint investigative tactics were demonstrated to participants on the spot during site visits to the border checkpoints.