A Libyan delegation consisting of Libyan border guard and Libyan customs officers attended the World Border Congress 2023 in Skopje, North Macedonia from 25 to 27 April, EUBAM Libya reported today. The Libyan delegation were hosted by the Border Management Unit of EUBAM Libya.
The World Border Security Congress is the premier multi-jurisdictional global platform where the border protection policy-makers, management and practitioners convene annually to discuss the international challenges faced in protecting and managing borders.
The event included high level discussions and a series of workshops for promoting greater collaboration on the international challenges. In addition, there were fruitful discussions on the use of electronic border assistance systems to enhance the security of the borders.
Libya struggles to protect its borders
“Currently, Libyan border guards struggle to fulfil their tasks related to border surveillance with responsibilities to tackling cross-border crimes”, Luis Puig, EUBAM Libya’s Head of the Border Management Unit said.
“Libyan border guards are lacking operational capabilities including equipment and require smart border technology which is not set up yet. The Libyan land borders are currently not entirely secured by the national border guards due to the lack of appropriate equipment, staffing and special operation procedures.”
Keeping up to date on latest trends
The Libyan border management officer’s attendance of the World Border Security Congress helped update them on the latest, policies, challenges and resolving strategies facing integrated border management. It enabled the Libyan delegation to receive the latest information to amend their own policies and programmes to further enhance the security of their borders.
They also gained insights into what the future holds for the management of migration and refugee movement, as well as systems and technologies employed in fighting illegal border activities, including drug, weapon and human being trafficking.
Strengthen the operational capacity of the Libyan border management agencies
The overall objective of the attendance was to strengthen the operational capacity of the Libyan border management agencies at border crossing points (BCPs) and the areas between. It was also to gain the knowledge of the benefits of the use of smart technology in the border control tasks (border checks and border surveillance) and to implement smart border surveillance technology.
EUBAM said the attendance helped improve the understanding of use of smart technology on border control and increasing the capacities of Libyan border and customs officers in charge, in particular on better border surveillance, better border control as well as better inspection of goods.
