Border management

The OSCE enhances border management and security while facilitating legitimate travel and commerce, protecting human rights and promoting human contacts.

(OSCE/Farhod Nabiyulloev) Photo details

Borders can be both open and secure: open to allow for the cross-border flow of legitimate trade and commerce, and secure in the sense that the national security interests of states are protected. The OSCE is committed to achieving a balance between the need to maintain security against cross-border threats and the freedom of movement for persons, goods, services and commerce.

The OSCE supports the efforts of its participating States and Partners for Co-operation to strengthen the capacities of border-related agencies and to promote co-operation between them, harmonizing border-related policies and practices in line with the OSCE Border Security and Management Concept and relevant Ministerial Council Decisions.

The OSCE Border Security and Management National Focal Point Network and OSCE Policing OnLine Information System (POLIS) serve as platforms to exchange border-related information and experiences.

The Border Management Staff College serves as a centre of excellence and a vehicle for the delivery of expertise and best practices in border management and security.

A number of OSCE field operations support effective border management. Their work includes:

Maintaining a presence in border zones;
Supporting co-operation and rapid information sharing between border police and neighbouring country counterparts;
Training, workshops and awareness-raising for navy and border security officers, customs personnel, and aviation and airport security staff on:
- Patrolling procedures, surveillance techniques, maritime security protocols, airport safety management, countering drug trafficking, strengthening travel document security, international profiling techniques, combating transnational organized crime, illegal trafficking of drugs and chemical precursors;
- Early warning meetings with border services, local officials and residents;
- Providing technical advice and assistance for preventing and responding to border incidents.

Border management

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Border management

OSCE in Action

Information and activities on Border management from across the Organization.

Institutions and Structures

OSCE Secretariat

Border management

Borders are the first lines of a country’s defence, and the movement of trade across them is critical to the health of economies across the globe. In 2005, the OSCE committed itself to achieving a balance between the need to maintain security against the cross-border threats and the freedom of movement for persons, goods, services and investments. Co-operation among participating States is key to this border management and security strategy, in particular on international risks such as drug trafficking, terrorism, migration, transport security and organized crime.

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Field Operations

OSCE Centre in Ashgabat

As part of its extrabudgetary project “Strengthening Border Service Capacities in Turkmenistan”, the Centre regularly organizes activities, such as advanced border patrol, maritime, alpine, medical and canine training, and workshops covering security aspects of trade facilitation. Workshops on relevant aspects of border management for participants from Turkmenistan and Afghanistan are also part of this project. The Centre also organizes specialized training courses for navy and border security officers, customs personnel, and aviation and airport security staff on topics that range from patrolling procedures and surveillance techniques to maritime security protocols and airport safety management. The Centre trains Turkmen law enforcement officials on techniques to counter drug trafficking, strengthen travel document security, and promote a code of conduct for law enforcement.

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OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Mission works to advance institutional and human capacity of the country’s border management institutions and agencies, ensuring that they function in a more effective and human-rights compliant manner.

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OSCE Mission to Skopje

The Mission maintains a permanent field presence in the border zones of the former crisis area. Its work includes regular visits to meet the population and officials involved in border security, as well as support for the co-operation and rapid information sharing of the border police with their counterparts in neighbouring countries.

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OSCE Presence in Albania

The Presence works with the Albanian State Police to help improve their effectiveness in combating and preventing all forms of transnational threats. A special focus is put on the Border and Migration Police, aiming to strengthen police professionalism at both institutional and operational levels and further improve democratic policing practices, in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards. The Presence supports establishing police co-operation centres, conducts simulating exercises and assessment of the green border, and upholds the regional cross-border cooperation mechanism to enhance information exchange. It also offers capacity-building for a better control of Albania’s borders against criminal activities such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, irregular migration, and foreign terrorists fighters.

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OSCE Programme Office in Astana

To promote the OSCE’s border security concept and integrated border management in Kazakhstan, the Office regularly organizes training seminars on document security, international profiling techniques, combating transnational organized crime, illegal trafficking of drugs and chemical precursors.

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OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek assists the State Border Service of the Kyrgyz Republic (SBS) by promoting cross-border co-operation and enhancing the capacity of the SBS personnel involved in addressing transnational threats in border management and security. The Office supports the SBS’s efforts in the implementation of the Integrated Border Management (IBM), which aims to achieve co-ordinated and improved border security and management.

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OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe

Tajikistan faces a number of issues related to border security, including drug smuggling and human trafficking. The Programme Office trains border officials to detect and intercept illegal border movements and helps them to develop information sharing systems which will ease border crossing and enhance border control. A major asset in this vital work is the Border Management College, established by the Programme Office in 2009, in Dushanbe. As one of the OSCE’s flagship projects, it enables the 57 participating States and 11 Partners for Co-operation to train their border security officers and management officials at the College. Its annual core courses cover three one-month Staff Courses, one of which is dedicated to female border officials, and a one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Border Security and Management for Senior Leadership course, which is accredited within the EU.

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OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan

Key activities are to improve travel document security and support the government in the fight against drug trafficking. To this end, the Co-ordinator runs expert workshops on such issues as biometric passport systems and machine-readable travel documents, gives technical support to the National Centre for Drug Control, and holds training courses for the Centre’s staff on effective techniques to curb trafficking.

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