On March 12-14 in Almaty workshop on contingency planning on border checkpoints was held, gathering representatives of different state agencies of Kazakhstan– Border Service CNS RK, State Revenue Committee (customs), Ministry of Interior –Emergency Situation Committee, Border Guards Academy of the CNS RK, Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Border control standards were discussed during a regional workshop on border checks held in Ashgabat between February 19-21. A total of 15 border guards and customs officers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were trained to use modern techniques and apply international standards in carrying out border checks and to manage mixed migration flows in accordance with international standards. Participants shared their experience and discussed the issues of border control organisation in their countries - administrative rules, regime, tools and methods of control with a focus on flow management. FRONTEX experts presented latest technological solutions in border control. Also, the participants broadened their knowledges of international standards in provision of basic services to vulnerable migrant groups crossing the border - refugees. This means that border guards/customs officers must be able to correctly identify migrants and assess their needs, provide services or refer them to a service provider, and establish cooperation for effective migrant referral. A separate session was dedicated to border check ethics and public service standards, which include sensitivity to gender, ethnicity, protecting migrants' data and respecting migrants' rights and dignity.
During the visit the participants have had opportunity to visit the airport of Ashgabat, where Turkmen Migration Service demonstrated integrated IT technologies of border control.
On February 12-14, 2019, a group of European experts visited Dushanbe to hold a multilateral workshop for border agencies of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on law enforcement ethics and the fight against corruption.
On January 29-February 01 Technical Assistance Mission on criminal investigation in risk management was held in Astana.
On January 22-24 in Kyrgyzstan workshop on E-learning methodology in training institutions of border guarding and customs institutions took place. The workshop, which was conducted in the premises of Kyrgyz Customs Training Centre, was facilitated by expert team from Latvian State Border Guard College and State Revenue Service of Latvia and gathered representatives of different training institutions of Kyrgyzstan forming and retraining border guards and customs officers as well Kyrgyz State University.
On 20 December 2018, BOMCA Programme facilitated the 11 th meeting of the Inter-Agency Commission on Development and Implementation of the Integrated Border Management (IBM) system in the Kyrgyz Republic. The main goal of the Commission is to steer and coordinate the efforts of all agencies involved in implementation of the National IBM Strategy 2012 – 2022.
On December 18-20, 2018 group of trainers of Kazakh Border Guard Academy is visiting Dushanbe for sharing their experience and best practices in teaching methodology with their Kyrgyz and Tajik colleagues.
On 28 November, the 4th Regional Steering Group (RSG) meeting was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Representatives from the border and customs services, foreign ministries, and migration management agencies of each Central Asian (CA) country as project beneficiaries together with BOMCA Consortium partners and representatives from the Delegations of the European Union in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan jointly assessed the Programme’s achievements and challenges to date and discussed the work plan and country priorities for the next year.
