Tajikistan’s Border Troops and OSCE conduct awareness raising on border security and management in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region

Between 3 and 8 April 2023 the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe in close collaboration with Tajikistan’s Border Troops organized awareness-raising meetings in seven border communities of the Darvoz district in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region.

The aim was to raise the awareness of the local population on the important work of border security services and co-operation with local communities in protecting the Tajik-Afghan border in light of the risks stemming from Afghanistan. The meetings also informed the local population about the importance of timely informing the national law enforcement authorities in border security management of unusual and suspicious incidents.

Over 930 citizens –parents, students, teachers, local community leaders, and local administration officials, almost half being women – participated. . The OSCE Office distributed 300 printed calendars with hotline numbers among the population to enable citizens to report any border-related violations in their communities.

Speaking about the aims OSCE’s National Expert, General Rajabali Mahmadaliev said: “Engagement with communities living in remote border zones with Afghanistan can help to generate information that can build comprehensive situational awareness and help officials distinguish between “usual” movements and those that are out of the ordinary or suspicious.” . . “Border communities need to be informed on the role of civil society in state border protection to build security, stability, and safety in the local context.” 

Colonel Habibullo Safarov, another OSCE National Expert, reminded that:  “The concept of border community policing that was popular and widely used during the former Soviet Union should be taken as a crucial tool, where border authorities can raise awareness within border communities on the threats posed by cross-border organized crime and terrorism.” 

The meetings were part of the support that the OSCE Programme Office offers to the Tajik Border Troops with respect to border management and security.  Its specific aim was to strengthen trust and increase partnerships between local communities and border security services through regular meetings that will introduce the border community-policing concept.