Webinar: Trends, Threats and Securing Extended Land Borders

WEDNESDAY 16th JUNE
9am EST / 2pm UK / 3pm CET

There are multiple challenges facing agencies responsible for the security of land borders, especially where borders are long and incorporate difficult terrains, such as deserts and mountains, frozen tundra, wetlands, or jungles. Extremes of weather may be another critical factor that has to be factored in when planning effective border management.

Border threats are also increasingly becoming 3 dimensional, with the increased use by bad actors of subterranean tunnels and new technologies such as airborne drones.

Lack of infrastructure is usually a major problem, even in rich countries like the United States. Power supplies for surveillance systems and communications may not always be available, and a communications infrastructure, such as telephone lines, GSM, and fibre optics are also often lacking or only cover parts of the border.

Roads and tracks for patrolling and interdiction may be only partial or altogether absent.

Maybe the most difficult problem of all is how do you manage your most important resource, your people, to effectively secure borders that may be many hundreds or even thousands of kilometres long. And that human resource is not just your agency staff, but border communities who should be playing a vital role as the eyes and ears on the border.

One solution that has had a lot of publicity in recent years is the building of walls/fences in the US, Southern Europe and Israel, but it is still unclear how effective these have been.

This webinar will discuss:

  • What are the current and evolving threat trends?
  • What policies and best practices have been successfully employed?
  • What technologies can be used as force multipliers?

SPEAKERS:

North Africa/SAHEL Region
– Alvina Samjawon, IBM Regional Thematic Specialist for Western and Central Africa, IOM
– Sophie Hoffmann, Programme Manager, Immigration & Border Management, IOM Niger

USA/Mexico Border
– Senior Representative, US Customs & Border Protection

Central Asia
– Daler Khamidov, National Border Management Officer, Programme Office in Dushanbe, Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

South East / Eastern Europe
– Dr. Vladimir Pivovarov, Coordinator, National Coordination Center for Border Management, North Macedonia
– Dusan Jovanov, System Analyst, National Coordination Center for Border Management, North Macedonia