Newsletters	Press Release
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan	Integrated Border Management Training in Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan	First Dog Handlers Competitions Held in Almaty
	National training on drug trafficking for drug profiling units in Tajikistan
	Central Asian Border Guards Study European Experience in Border Management
	Intagrated Border Management Training Held in Kazakhstan

Background

Following the break up of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the countries in Central Asia faced, and partly still face, the following security and economic challenges:

• Tens of thousands of kilometres of new international borders;
• The world’s biggest opium and heroin producing country in the neighbourhood;
• General political instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan;
• Political instability in certain parts within Central Asia;
• Lack of budgetary funding in some partner countries;
• Low levels of trade between the countries in the region;
• Difficult transition from a Soviet-type conception of border management, which is based on a military-like approach to borders and drug control;
• A border control print which is partly based on conscripts;
• Often limited co-operation within and between agencies working on the border.

In the late 1990s the European Commission decided to become more active in the area of border management in Central Asia. After several assessment missions and small scale interventions in 2002-2003, the first major multi-annual BOMCA phase was launched in early 2004. Since then, BOMCA has become one of the biggest assistance programmes of the European Commission in Central Asia: BOMCA’s accumulated budgets in 2003-2010 amount to ˆ 25.655 million. UNDP, the implementing agency of BOMCA, co-funded the programme with ˆ 2.05 million.

Overview of BOMCA

The overall objective of BOMCA is to secure the gradual adoption of modern border management methods in Central Asia. Modern border management has two equally important aims:

• Enhanced border security;
• Facilitation of legal trade and transit.

BOMCA addresses these two objectives through the introduction of European-style Integrated Border Management (IBM) methodologies. The IBM concept has three key elements: intra-agency coordination, inter-agency collaboration and international cooperation.  The BOMCA strategy to introduce IBM in Central Asia comprises the following components:

§      Policy Advice, and Legal and Institutional Reform: BOMCA has established inter-ministerial commissions and inter-agency working groups in each country to familiarise key decision-makers with options regarding how IBM can be implemented, and to initiate the necessary legislative and regulatory reforms necessary to institutionalise the IBM framework;

§      Strengthening National Training Capacities: BOMCA is renovating and equipping training centres for border agencies in all of the countries of Central Asia, introducing IBM components into the national training curricula and improving national training capacities through a “Training-of-Trainers” approach that utilises the best of European expertise and practice;

§      Trade and transit facilitation: BOMCA is enhancing control and security through model projects at Border Crossing points on major Central Asian trade corridors: Relevant Country offices are responsible for activities related to design, construction, equipping, hand-over ceremonies and training;

§      Strengthening Counter-Drug Capacities at Borders in Central Asia: BOMCA continues to improve efficiency of the work of law enforcement agencies through profiling at BCPs, airports and railway stations in Central Asia and to improve capabilities of the members of the new State Service for combating drugs based at BCPs in Turkmenistan;

§      Assisting the Tajik Government in strengthening security along the central part of the Tajik - Afghan border: BOMCA continues to improve border infrastructure by constructing and equipping 3 Border Outposts (Sokhcharv, Shidz and Pastkhuv) and renovating three border outposts (Nulvand; Daraisang; Porschenev).

BOMCA: A Coordination Platform

Technical Level Donor Coordination Meetings are regularly organised and hosted in the beneficiary countries. The principal goal of the donor coordination meetings is to provide an opportunity for coordination and discussion on common aims to promote parallel funding from donor organizations and in-kind contributions to EU projects. To address the specific needs in Tajikistan BOMCA organises monthly technical-level Border International Group (BIG) since 2005. The basic aim is to improve donor cooperation and to avoid duplication of efforts in Tajikistan. BIG members include local embassies and all the donors involved in the provision of assistance for border management and the counteraction of drugs trafficking. The BOMCA country team organises the BIG meetings and provides the secretariat functions.

Coordination with beneficiaries: Bi-annual Steering Committee Meetings are a useful vehicle for each country to indicate and outline their priorities. Programme implementation is planned according to the decisions made by these committees.

The Central Asia Border Security Initiative (CABSI) was founded in 2003 by the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior in order to provide a forum for coordination and discussion on BOMCA programme activities and strategic objectives. In the meantime, CABSI has been extended to become a coordination platform for all stakeholders in the areas of border management and drug control in Central Asia, while its objectives have been developed further to promote a comprehensive and sustainable integrated border management approach in the region. CABSI meetings take place once a year in Central Asia to discuss current border management and security activities and possible future cooperation.

BOMCA projects in detail

Project 1: Institutional Reform in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

The primary objectives are to support the Kyrgyz and Tajik Governments in the revision of existing or preparation of new border management strategies and, in Kazakhstan, to facilitate further discussions to further develop their border management strategy. Meetings of the specially created Inter-Agency Working Groups and National Steering Committees, and two high-level border commanders’ conferences, serve as platforms to discuss institutional reform and other border management related project issues. The major activities within this project are: Advocacy for the development of a new border management strategy (Kyrgyzstan) and revision of existing strategies (Tajikistan and Kazakhstan); In each country, to support the organisation of government hosted border management conferences to share and review border management strategies with international donors; Discussion of IBM concepts and their implementation with the Kazakh and Kyrgyz authorities; Organisation of cross-border workshops to encourage and improve inter-regional cooperation; Study tours for Inter-Agency Working Group members from the three countries to support the participation of Border Guard Commanders in the annual Border Guard Conferences in Hungary.

Ak-Jol Border Crossing Point at the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border

Project 2: Strengthening Training Capacities in Central Asia

Graduates of Dog Handlers Training Course

The main goal is to support Central Asian countries in developing and expanding their training capacities so they are sufficiently able to introduce EU Integrated Border Management methodologies. The major activities within this project include: Development of the IBM Handbook for Central Asia; Arranging Study Tours to FRONTEX in Poland for senior Border Agency staff (Commanders or deputy Commanders); Building a multi-agency dog training centre in Kyrgyzstan; Construction of a dormitory wing at the National Border Guard Training Centre in Novopokrovka, Kyrgyzstan, and provision of essential equipment; Renovation of the national Border Guard Training Centre in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The training centre was kitted out with computers and other electronic equipment; it was also provided with furniture and stationery supplies.; Construction of a Dog Centre for the State Border Service in Turkmenistan;; Renovation of the Border Guard Training Centre in Dushanbe, including the sewage print, to improve living conditions for border guards in response to a formal request from the Tajik Government; “Training-of-Trainers” for Central Asian regional training centres’ staff. The trainees receive basic knowledge on the concepts of IBM and training methods for training border and customs officers; Organisation of three-month dog training courses at the Tashkent Customs Training Centre and the Almaty Border Guard Training Centre.The courses provide instructors with practical skills and will strengthen regional cooperation between the dog handling service agencies of Central Asian countries.

Project 3: Strengthening Infrastructure Capacities Along Trade and Transit Corridors in Central Asia

The major activities within this project include: Construction of the Patar Border Crossing Point (BCP) on the Tajik-Uzbek border; Provision of equipment for Fotekhobod and Patar BCPs including passport-readers and equipment for document authentication and the examination of vehicles (endoscopes, binoculars, X-ray prints, etc.); A survey on the trade and transit situation based on the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) methodologies to establish baseline indicators for future activities; Organisation of training sessions for Border Agency staff of BCPs; Construction of BCP Karasuu at Kyrgyz-Uzbek border and BCP Ak-Jol at Kyrgyz-Kazakh border; Construction of 3 Border Outposts at the Tajik-Afghan border - Sokhcharv, Shidz and Pastkhuv; and provision of equipment.

Opening of the Border Outpost at Sokh in  Uzbekistan

Project 4: Strengthening Counter-Drug Capacities at Borders in Central Asia

The major activities within this project include:

• Workshops in the 5 Central Asia countries for decision makers to encourage the signature of an inter agency agreement on the functioning of the DPUs;
• Retraining of the staff of DPUs and BCPs in DPU methodology; provision of training materials;
• Training-of-Trainers in DPU methodology;  inclusion of DPU methodology in the standard curriculum of the training institutes in the region;
• Training of the Staff of the new State Service for Combating Drugs at BCPs and Airports in Turkmenistan on modern working methods for the fight against drugs and precursors trafficking; provision with specialized equipment;
• Provision of Drug detecting dogs to the State Service for Combating Drugs in Turkmenistan. Training on drug and precursors detection at BCPs;
• Study tour to Europe for DPU staff

Project 5:  Assisting Tajikistan in Securing the Tajik-Afghan Border in Gorno-Badakhsan

The major activities within this project include: