From 17 to 19 May, the EU-funded Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA 10) organised a national workshop in Uzbekistan for investigators and crime intelligence officers specialised in investigation of trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling. This is the forth workshop of its kind conducted by the BOMCA Programme in the Central Asian region, following similar activities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The participants familiarised themselves with EU approach and novel methods of investigation of organised cross-border crime such as trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants.

This workshop strengthened the investigation capacities of criminal intelligence officers and investigators of the national security, internal affairs, and Prosecutor’s offices and border guard agencies in the field of cross-border crimes. The workshop looked into the European legal instruments for countering trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, as well as novel methods of investigating organised cross-border crimes, profiling and identification techniques of victims of trafficking. Special attention was paid to case studies and practical exercises.

Experts from Prosecutor General 's Office of Lithuania and Ministry of the Interior of Lithuania presented case studies and initiated discussions related to various aspects of investigation aimed at increasing their capacities in tackling migrant smuggling and trafficking of human being.

As a result of discussions, a standard operating procedure on investigation of trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants will be developed and a Training of Trainers (ToT) Handbook will be developed addressing migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings.

This activity is a part of series of activities for each country of Central Asia on the topic. It is conducted in the framework of the Component 2, “Improvement of detection capacities”, aimed at supporting law enforcement agencies in evidence-based investigations, specifically dealing with the detection and investigation of cross-border crime.