Over the course of 2022, EUAM Iraq has facilitated three workshops, engaging experts from the European Union from the Finnish Border Guard, Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency as well as Europol to share experiences and best practices with the Iraqi border authorities.
Ilkka HERRANEN, EUAM Iraq’s Senior Strategic Adviser on Border Management, in charge of organising the workshops, commented:
EUAM Iraq’s close collaboration with the Iraqi border authorities goes back years. This cooperation is part of the Mission’s overarching work on contributing to the Security Sector Reform in the country and the Iraqi Border Forces Command have constantly shown professionalism, motivation and commitment in the partnership.
This year, we were very glad to offer workshops providing insights to European perspectives and experiences regarding certain fields of border-related issues that have not been available in Iraq on a wide scale. This includes, inter alia, the use of patrol boats or unmanned aerial vehicles by the border, automated border controls as well as automated facial recognition.
The first workshop, held in February in Baghdad, concentrated on the sharing of European experiences on modern border protection technologies.
Several Iraqi entities attended the workshop which aim was to present the effective and reliable methods of border protection currently used by the Finnish Boarder Guard, Frontex, and Europol. The methods shared have provided significant security improvements, have been economically feasible and have enhanced border security in the countries they were applied.
The second workshop was facilitated by EUAM Iraq in June in Basra.
The participants showed real interest in the topics presented, which could be seen through their questions, comments and active engagement. Most of the participants confirmed in their feedback that they would need more similar workshops to benefit from the European experiences and learn about the border-related high technology and how these could be applied in Iraq.
Mr Lauri Pakkala from the Finnish Border Guard commented about his experience providing the workshop sessions, participating virtually:
As an active member of the European Union border and coast guard community, the Finnish Border Guard is committed to sharing experiences and best practices while engaging in international cooperation. The Iraqi Border Forces officers were engaged and interested in the experiences of the Finnish Border Guard. Border security management is a task shared internationally between all border and coast guard agencies. Therefore, it is vital to form a mutual understanding of the most efficient methods and procedures to improve shared security factors.
The third workshop, taking place in November in Baghdad, concentrated on the topics of patrol boats, unmanned aerial vehicles by the border, automated border controls, and drones. This time, all the presentations were held remotely from Europe.
Participants attended the workshop from different Iraqi provinces from various Law Enforcement Authorities whose work is related to the Borders of Iraq such as Border Forces Command, Borders Intelligence, Passport and Residency Directorate, the Federal Investigation and Intelligence Agency and the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority. Once again, the participants showed enthusiasm and interest for the materials presented, one of them commenting on the benefits and also desired future developments of the workshop as follows:
The information was very scientific, practical, important, and valuable for the intelligence and field work. Yet, I believe the workshop should be longer and there could be a practical part that includes the way of using the provided information.
Another participant went on to add:
The workshop was very useful. We hope that you will organise even more inclusive workshops for all the departments in the Ministry of Interior. We would also need a workshop in one of EU countries to have an idea about the security there and apply it in Iraq.
