Effective border security and the fight against drugs trafficking are major challenges for the Central Asian region and each have direct effects on the countries of the European Union and the CIS. Together the BOMCA-CADAPprogrammes represent the practical expression of the EU’s strategic interest in supporting the security and stability of the Central Asian region.
The programme was established by the Central Asia Border Security Initiative (CABSI) – a consortium of EU member states in 2002. Each year the CABSI meets to review the progress of BOMCA and discuss its future direction. These meetings were conducted in Austria from 2002 through 2006. The 2007 CABSI meeting was held in Kyrgyzstan and the 2008 meeting took place in Kazakhstan.
It is one of the largest European Comission assistance programmes in Central Asia and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme under the leadership of the UNDP Country Office in Bishkek. BOMCA and CADAP share a Regional Headquarters in Bishkek and have Country Offices in each of the five Central Asian republics.
The overall objective of BOMCA is to secure the gradual adoption of modern border management methods in Central Asia. Modern border management has two equally important purposes:
- Enhancing border security
- Facilitation of legal trade and transit
BOMCA aims to achieve these twin objectives through the introduction of European-style integrated border management (IBM) methodologies. IBM has three pillars: intra-agency coordination, inter-agency collaboration and international cooperation. The BOMCA strategy to introduce IBM in Central Asia is comprised of three components:
- Pilot Site Trials in Integrated Border Management: BOMCA is providing infrastructure, equipment and ’on-the-job‘ training in key skills to border agency staff at selected airports, seaports and stretches of green border in Central Asia, with a view to national governments running trials of IBM in these pilot sites under future phases of the programme.
- Strengthening National Training Capacities: BOMCA is renovating and equipping training centres for border agencies in all give countries of Central Asia, introducing IBM components to national training curricula, and establishing national training capacities through a ‘training-of-trainers‘ approach that utilizes the best of European expertise.
- Pilot Site Trials in Integrated Border Management: BOMCA is providing infrastructure, equipment and ’on-the-job‘ training in key skills to border agency staff at selected airports, seaports and stretches of green border in Central Asia, with a view to national governments running trials of IBM in these pilot sites under future phases of the programme.
There were several phases of implementation of the programme. The sixth phase of BOMCA is covering 2008 and 2009.
