A View to a Border: 3. The Role of Border Communities and Border Security and Management Strategies

The role of border communities and border security and management strategies in the context of cross border cooperation and information sharing to counter terrorism and related transnational organized crime

• Introduction to the webinar series thematic areas
• Interactive Dialogue: Previous Experiences & Success Stories
• Q & A

The Accra Initiative was established in 2017 to prevent spillover of terrorism from the Sahel and to address transnational organized crime and violent extremism in member countries’ border areas through enhanced cross-border cooperation and information sharing.  Member States[1] of this initiative aim to improve intelligence sharing, strengthen border controls and regain the trust of local populations. The Accra Initiative is anchored on three pillars: information and intelligence sharing; training of security and intelligence personnel; and conducting joint cross-border military operations to sustain border security. 

Operation Koudanlgou II was developed in November 2018 under the Accra Initiative.  Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana launched this joint security operation in the southern and western areas of Burkina Faso in which more than 850 security elements from the three countries were involved to crackdown transnational crimes including terrorism, smuggling, and drug trafficking. The operation led to 150 arrests, 11 confiscated vehicles and seized arms, ammunition, cannabis and liquor. Security forces also offered health services to local populations, painted a school and repaired a road. 

In November 2019 around 170 suspected terrorists and criminals were arrested near the Togo-Ghana border. The arrests fall under the joint security operation between Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo, code-named Koudanlgou III.

Understanding, anticipating, and effectively addressing current and emerging terrorism and security threats are critically important but are also among the most challenging tasks of the law enforcement community. Terrorists and their affiliates often move across borders and regions in order to recruit, establish new cells and areas of influence, plan and organize attacks, avoid detection and arrest, finance their activities, and return to their countries of origin.

Timely access to critical information about identified or suspected terrorist activity is central to counter-terrorism efforts. The exchange of information and cross-border cooperation are critical tools for investigations into transnational crimes as well as for the identification of terrorists and foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) (including returnees and relocators) as well as the organized criminal networks that facilitate their travel. Enhancing the sharing of operational information on terrorists and FTFs, including biometric data, assist in building situational awareness of travel routes and modus operandi so that coordinated measures for prevention and prosecution may be strategically implemented. However, information exchange and inter-agency cooperation, both within and between countries, while routinely touted as critical components of border security and management, have historically been difficult to achieve and remain significant challenges.

The objective of the webinar is to raise awareness of the need to address terrorist threats and cross-border challenges through effective information sharing within a regional approach. Furthermore, it will offer a platform to highlight the importance of inter-agency coordination and cooperation at the national, regional and interregional levels in the adoption and implementation of operational response measures within a rule of law framework to comply with the obligations set forth in the relevant international instruments (especially those on human rights, refugee and international humanitarian law) to enable Member States to better address the terror-crime nexus and effectively protect their borders against potential incursions by terrorists, traffickers and other transnational criminals. Finally, it will also enable representatives of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to discuss common issues and share identified good practices and lessons learned on the available tools and technological developments.