Bishkek, 11 May 2006 - The 10-day Study Tour for Judges, Prosecutors, and Heads of Anti-Drug Trafficking Department of Ministries of Interior from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan was held in Rome, Italy, from 30 April to May 11, 2006. The Tour was organized under the Legal Assistance Project of the EU-UNDP Central Asia Drug Action Programme (CADAP).

In Rome, the group visited the Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Services under the Ministry of Interior, the National Department for Anti-Drug Policy, and the Telecommunication Operative Center (Centro Operativo Telecomuncazioni). In Naples, the delegation visited the Financial Police Office, and the Carabineer Special Operative Unit. The delegation participants expressed a genuine interest in future cooperation between corresponding agencies in Central Asia and Italy by signing the Memorandum of Cooperation directly with their Italian counterparts.

Training for High Ranking Managers

Five high ranking experts from all Central Asian countries traveled to Hungary to learn best practices in border control and to study Integrated Border Management (IBM) methods. Participants of the Tour participated in the International Border Police Conference organized by the Hungarian Border Guards during 31 May-1 June 2006. After participation at this two-day Conference dealing exclusively with theoretical and professional issues of border management at the strategic level, a five-days tour was held to visit border crossing stations both at the European internal and external borders. The course organizers made presentations on the integrated management of border traffic, common control at border crossing points, common patrol at green borders, and the European cooperation mechanism (FRONTEX).

Note: the European Union is funding a number of projects under its Border Management and Drug Action in Central Asia (BOMCA/CADAP) programmes. The key goal of these programmes is to assist the Central Asian states to improve their security situation, and to facilitate the legal movements of persons and goods across their borders. The programmes include projects targeted at modernizing border management, preventing drug trafficking and drug abuse in the region. BOMCA/CADAP programmes are funded by the EU, whereas UNDP implements and coordinates the programmes through its country offices in all Central Asian countries.

For more information, please contact Asel Sekimova (asel.sekimova@eu-bomca.org), BOMCA/CADAP Communication Specialist at + 996(312) 61 20 18/19