Border cooperation offices to be created in Central Asia

The grant agreement was signed today between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and exchange notes between the Embassy of Japan in Kyrgyzstan and the UNODC on expanding scale of the project “Combating traffic of opiates from Afghanistan via the northern route through strengthening the capacity of key checkpoints and the establishment of offices of the boundary interaction in Central Asia”.

Communication, coordination and cooperation among law enforcement bodies are key elements in combating illegal drug trafficking. Offices of border cooperation are a sustainable mechanism, which allows law enforcement bodies to cooperate with their colleagues within and outside the country.

The component 3 of the project envisages creation of four offices of border cooperation at four border points Dostyk, Dustlik, Ayratom and Lower Pyandj in three Central Asian states along the Uzbek, Uzbek-Afghan and Tajik-Afghan borders.

The main goal of the project is to create infrastructure, providing equipment for offices of border cooperation, training of personnel and create legal framework for inter-department cooperation.

The project is directed at strengthening potential of law enforcement bodies on fighting international crime, including drug trafficking from Afghanistan through territories of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The offices of border cooperation will be linked with modern communication equipment, as well as specialized equipment on border control and information exchange. The project will help to acquire experience, strengthen trust and use modern approaches to develop inter-governmental and trans-boundary cooperation.

The UNODC project is implementing measures on combating traffic of opiates from Afghanistan via the northern route through strengthening the capacity of key checkpoints and the establishment of offices of the boundary interaction in Central Asia in 2011 (Norway was donor of the project). In 2012, Japan approved allocation of US$13.6 million to the UNODC activities in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. The project received additional US$1.27 million from this package, which helped to expand the project scope and cover Kyrgyz-Tajik border and envisages creation of four offices of border cooperation along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border.

The concept of the office of border cooperation is new for the region and requires special attention by the UNODC Office in Central Asia and national partners of the member states.