OSCE Mobile Training Team on the detection of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) at the borders, conducts national training course for officers of Border Police and Service for Foreigners’ Affairs in Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The OSCE Mobile Training Team and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, jointly organized an interactive training course on the identification of foreign terrorist fighters at the borders for 22 first and second line border officers and the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 29 November to 1 December 2021 in Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the three-day training course, participants learned about international and regional legal frameworks, the effective use of Interpol databases, Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Record Systems, travel document security as well as risk analysis and management in the identification of potential foreign terrorist fighters at borders. Participants were also taught how to detect behavioral indicators of FTFs and interviewing techniques.
“For several years now, Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing increased mixed migration flows. It is imperative that our border officers and inspectors for foreigners get more training to identify foreign terrorist fighters in these flows,” said Rade Kovač, Head of Sector for Operational Support of the BiH Service for Foreigners’ Affairs. Slobodan Krstić, Adviser to the Director of Border Police added that the course helped the trainees learn techniques that will enable them to quickly identify suspects in their daily duties in border security and immigration in a human rights and rule of law-compliant manner.
“It has been two years since we had the last in-person training on the phenomenon of returning FTFs at borders. A lot has changed in these two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but what has not changed is the threat that FTFs still pose on our society, especially in the OSCE region. Maybe the threat today is even bigger than in 2016, when the project was established”, said Florian Krejsa, Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department.
The Mobile Training Team was represented by national border officers from North Macedonia and Greece, as well as national and international experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, INTERPOL, FRONTEX, the OSCE and the United States of America. Experts shared their knowledge and expertise on the identification of Foreign Terrorist Fighters at the borders.
The OSCE Mobile Training Team was established by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in 2016. It is composed of 17 selected border and counter-terrorism experts from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation. This is the twelfth deployment of the Mobile Training Team, organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.