News

This week, Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, hosted the 21st meeting of the Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC), gathering representatives of 21 African countries and a number of EU institutions.

During the gathering, Frontex launched a project to develop the capacity of AFIC countries to work on joint intelligence analysis of crime. This project will focus on training experts and setting up AFIC Risk Analysis Cells (RACs). It is funded by the European Commission.

“Criminal networks are increasingly crossing national borders. None of us can manage the threats they pose to our countries and societies alone. There is little doubt that the increasingly international criminal groups require a global, cross-border response,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri.

“But for this to happen it is necessary to strengthen cooperation between all affected countries. This will help dismantle organised crime networks engaged in people smuggling and trafficking in human beings,” he added.

Participants discussed border management and security, building better awareness of the situation at the African borders and exchange of information about migratory movements.

The Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC) was set up in 2010 to provide a framework for regular information sharing about migrant smuggling and other border security threats affecting African countries and the EU. It foresees close cooperation with a number of countries along the main smuggling routes. This is done through a series of training and capacity building activities to develop national and regional strategies to fight cross-border crime and setting up integrated border management systems, as well as improving the collection, sharing and analysis of relevant data.

This week’s meeting in Warsaw was the third of a series of workshops organised this year. The previous ones took place in Niger and Spain (Canary Islands). As a result, Frontex produces reports that analyse the irregular migratory movements affecting African countries which are part of the AFIC network, cross-border criminality and provide an overview of the main regional security threats. The countries include Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Togo. Other participants of this week’s meeting included representatives of Europol, the European Commission, European External Action Services, EU Integrated Border Management Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM Libya), EUCAP SAHEL Mali, EUCAP SAHEL Niger.