OSCE conducts course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters for border and security officers in Kazakhstan

From 20 to 22 November 2018, the OSCE Mobile Training Team delivered an interactive national course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters at the borders for 25 first- and second-line border and security officers, including four female participants, in Astana.

The deployment of the Training Team, the ninth of its kind, was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department. The event was supported by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in close co-operation with the Border Service of Kazakhstan.

The training course focused on international, regional and national legal frameworks and the effective use of Interpol databases. Risk analysis and management in the identification of potential foreign terrorist fighters at borders in compliance with international human rights standards were also discussed.

“In response to geopolitical changes in the region, the OSCE has implemented effective measures to support the Border Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan through organizing training seminars for border personnel on the methods used by criminals to cross the borders illegally and tools for cognitive behavioral analysis.  As a result, the number of interdictions of criminals at the border has increased. This proves the effectiveness of these trainings and international co-operation,” said Talgat Bayandinov, Deputy Head of the Regional Division of Kazakhstan’s Border Services.

The importance of risk analysis models applied to identify potential foreign terrorist fighters at the borders as well as background, trends and current cases were discussed during the course. The participants engaged in practical exercises on the detection of forged documents and impostors as well as in interactive exercises for understanding behavioral indicators of foreign terrorist fighters.

The Mobile Training Team members from Georgia, Poland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom as well as experts from INTERPOL, the OSCE and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization delivered presentations. They shared their knowledge and expertise in 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.