Border and customs officers trained on border inspections at regional OSCE-supported event in Kazakhstan

An OSCE-supported workshop for 20 border guards and customs officers from Central Asian countries on border inspection ethics and public service standards began on 20 September 2016 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

A three-day event, organized by the EU-funded Border Management in Central Asia Programme (BOMCA) and the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, aims at strengthening the capacity of border control and customs officers in identification and profiling mechanisms, which would help them to better categorize different types of persons crossing the borders while respecting human rights.

Participants will learn from the international experts from Latvia about the use of modern techniques and international standards in border checks. The experts will also present EU best practices in the field of border control and co-operation mechanisms between agencies involved in ensuring proper procedures at border checkpoints.

Some sessions will be dedicated to border checks ethics and public service standards, which includes sensitivity to gender, ethnicity, protecting migrant’s data and respecting migrant’s rights and dignity. 

The workshop is part of the Office’s activities aimed to enhance the host country’s border security and management and promote integrated border security management, while countering transnational threats.