EValuation border manag org crime

Thematic global evaluation of the
European  Union’s  support  to  Integrated  

Border Management and fight against
Organised Crime

Final Report
Volume 2

April 2013

___________

Development Evaluation carried out on behalf of
and Cooperation the European Commission

EuropeAid



Consortium composed by
Particip-ADE–DRN-DIE–ECDPM-ODI-South Research

Leader of the Consortium: Particip
[email protected]

Contract No EVA 2007/social LOT2
Specific contract No 2011/263105

This evaluation was commissioned by
the Evaluation Unit of the

Directorate General for Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid
(European Commission)

The  opinions  expressed  in  this  document  represent  the  authors’  points  of  view  
which are not necessarily shared by the European Commission
or by the authorities of the concerned countries.

This report has been prepared by

Merzhauser Str. 183
79100 Freiburg, Germany
Phone: +49 761 790 740
Fax: +49 761 790 7490
E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.particip.de

The evaluation team comprised of: Phil Johnson
(Team Leader), Peter Hobbing and Hardy Roehling
(senior thematic experts). The team has been
supported by: Dr Georg Ladj (QA director); Tino
Smail (evaluation co-ordinator); Claus-Peter Hager,
Julia Schwarz (junior consultants) and Manuel
Fürstos (research assistant).

The evaluation is being managed by the DEVCO
Evaluation Unit.

The author accepts sole responsibility for this report,
drawn up on behalf of the Commission of the
European Union. The report does not necessarily
reflect the views of the Commission.

Cover  page  illustration  “Legal Crossing Point”;;  
source: Phil Johnson.



Thematic Global Evaluation of the European Union's
Support to Integrated Border Management and the Fight

Against Organised Crime

Final Report

The report consists of 3 volumes:
Volume I: Main report
Volume II: Detailed information matrix
Volume III: Annexes

VOLUME I: MAIN REPORT
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Background and context of EU support to IBM and OC
4. Answers to the Evaluation Questions
5. Conclusions and Recommendations

VOLUME II: DETAILED INFORMATION MATRIX
1. EQ1- Policy Framework
2. EQ2- 3Cs
3. EQ3- Aid delivery methods
4. EQ4- Legal and regulatory framework
5. EQ5- Border co-operation
6. EQ6- Security and threat of crime
7. EQ7- Flow of persons and management of migration
8. EQ8- Flow of legitimate goods and revenue collection

VOLUME IIIA: ANNEX 1 TO 9 - TOR, EVALUATION MATRIX AND OUTPUTS OF DESK PHASE ACTIVITIES
1. Annex 1: Terms of Reference
2. Annex 2: Final Evaluation Matrix
3. Annex 3: Inventory
4. Annex 4: CSP analysis
5. Annex 5: RSP analysis
6. Annex 6: Results of Survey to EU Delegations
7. Annex 7: ROM analysis
8. Annex 8: List of People Interviewed
9. Annex 9: List of documents and sources of information

VOLUME IIIB: ANNEX 10: CASE STUDIES
1. Afghanistan
2. Albania
3. Belarus
4. Mauritania
5. Serbia
6. Ukraine
7. BOMCA
8. CAFAO
9. EUBAM
10. Seahorse
11. SEFRO

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Table  of  Contents

1 EQ 1 on EU policy framework .....................................................................................................1
1.1 JC 11 - EU policies, strategies and reference documents related to the support to IBM &
OC have been comprehensive and consistent ...........................................................................1
1.2 JC 12 - Appropriate guidance for the design and implementation of the EU support is
available ......................................................................................................................................7

2 EQ 2 on 3Cs ................................................................................................................................10
2.1 JC 21 - The EU has contributed to establishing or effectively implementing co-ordination
mechanisms with EU Member States and other donors...........................................................10
2.2 JC 22 - Complementarity between the interventions of the EU, the EU Member States and
other donors active in the IBM and OC arena...........................................................................19
2.3 JC 23 - EU support to IBM and OC, in both the development and Enlargement context, has
been coherent with other EU policies, programmes and activities ...........................................23

3 EQ 3 on aid delivery methods...................................................................................................28
3.1 JC 31 - Responsiveness of the aid delivery methods and funding channels to the national/
regional context in partner countries .........................................................................................28
3.2 JC 32 - Increased cost-effectiveness and timeliness of EU aid delivery ...................................43

4 EQ 4 on legal, regulatory and institutional framework...........................................................54
4.1 JC 41 - EU support has contributed to enhancing the legal/regulatory framework in IBM
matters in partner countries ......................................................................................................54
4.2 JC 42 - EU support has contributed to enhancing the legal/regulatory framework in law
enforcement and criminal justice matters .................................................................................57
4.3 JC 43 - EU support has contributed to strengthening the institutional framework of border
management agencies (including improved accountability and management capacities) .......60

5 EQ 5 on border co-operation ....................................................................................................68
5.1 JC 51 - EU support has contributed to enhance the development of a conducive
environment for co-operation in border management at national and international level.........68
5.2 JC 52 - EU support has contributed to improve intra-agency co-operation in border
management .............................................................................................................................72
5.3 JC 53 - EU support has contributed to improve inter-agency co-operation in border
management .............................................................................................................................76
5.4 JC 54 - EU support has contributed to improve international co-operation in border
management .............................................................................................................................84

6 EQ 6 on security and the threat of organised crime...............................................................93
6.1 JC 61 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to enhancing the technical skills of
border management agencies related to the detection of organised crime..............................93
6.2 JC 62 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to improving the physical state and
correct usage of technical infrastructure of border management agencies related to
enhanced detection of organised crime ....................................................................................98
6.3 JC 63 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to improving the procedures of border
agencies related to enhanced detection and prosecution of organised crime........................101
6.4 JC 64 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to enhancing international co-operation
of border management agencies related to the detection of organised crime........................106

7 EQ 7 on flow of persons and management of migration .....................................................111
7.1 JC 71 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to enhancing client-oriented services
(including application of human rights) and procedures being provided by border
management agencies............................................................................................................111

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7.2 JC 72 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to effective open borders for travellers

in need of protection (asylum seekers, refugees, victims of trafficking, vulnerable migrants
etc.) .........................................................................................................................................118
7.3 JC 73 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to effective detection of suspicious
movement of persons at border crossing points, green or blue borders ................................122
8 EQ 8 on flow of legitimate goods and improved revenue collection ..................................128
8.1 JC 81 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to enhancing client-oriented services
and procedures being provided by border management agencies related to the flow of
goods.......................................................................................................................................128
8.2 JC 82 - EU support to IBM and OC has contributed to increased levels of detection of fraud
and trade-related crime at borders..........................................................................................137
8.3 JC 83 - EU support has enhanced revenue collection systems at borders.............................141

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List of tables

Table 1: EU documents which best define the concept of IBM used in the EU interventions
related to border management .......................................................................................8
Table 2:
Table 3: Overview of regional case studies ................................................................................34
Table 4: Potential advantages and challenges of regional and national interventions...............35
Table 5:
EU committed amounts by financial instruments (2002-2010) .....................................50

Revenue collection in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine .....................................141

List of figures

Figure 1: The features of IBM as defined in the 2009 Guidelines for Integrated Border
Figure 2: Management in EU external action.................................................................................4
Figure 3:
Figure 4: Results of the survey to EUDs: Clarity of EU strategies and reference documents in
Figure 5: providing operational guidance for the design and implementation ...............................8
Figure 6:
Figure 7: Results of the  survey  to  EUDs:  Usefulness  of  the  “Guidelines  for  IBM  in  European  
Figure 8: Commission  External  Cooperation” ................................................................................9
Figure 9:
Figure 10: Results of the survey to EUDs: Existence of co-ordination mechanisms related to
Figure 11: border management .....................................................................................................10

Figure 12: Co-ordination mechanisms related to border management .........................................12
Figure 13:
Figure 14: Results of the survey to EUDs: Role played by the EU in co-ordinating
Figure 15: development  partner’s  positions on border management ............................................16
Figure 16:
Figure 17: Results of the survey to EUDs: Quality of dialogue on border management
Figure 18: between EU and partner government...........................................................................18
Figure 19:
Figure 20: Results of the survey to EUDs: Extent and quality of joint activities with other
Figure 21: development partners ...................................................................................................20
Figure 23:
Figure 24: Results of the survey to EUDs: Characterisation of division of labour agreed upon
Figure 25: with EU MS and other donors.......................................................................................21

Results of the survey to EUDs: Flexibility of EU in adjusting to other donors
approaches ...................................................................................................................23

Results of the survey to EUDs: Level of coherence of the EU support to IBM and
OC with EU policies, programmes and activities focusing on IBM and OC issues at
EU borders....................................................................................................................24

Results of the survey to EUDs: Level of coherence between the EU support to
border management with other EU external co-operation policies...............................25

Results of the survey to EUDs: Extent to which design of interventions is based on
a  thorough  analysis  of  the  partner  country’s  specific  context .......................................29

Results of the survey to EUDs: Suitability of approaches used by the EU to tackle
the specific challenges related to border management ................................................31

EU commitments - regional versus country-level interventions (2002-2010) ...............32

Results of the survey to EUDs: Extent to which the EU support faced delays in
implementation..............................................................................................................45

Results of the survey to EUDs: Main reasons for the delays in implementation ..........47

EU commitments by funding channels (2002-2010).....................................................48

Results of the survey to EUDs: Suitability of funding channels for the EU support to
border management .....................................................................................................48

Results of the survey to EUDs: Internal policies and strategies of border
management agencies .................................................................................................61

Results of the survey to EUDs: Enhancing the management capacity and the
organisational structure of border management agencies ...........................................63

Corruption Perception Index (0-10 highly clean) ..........................................................65

Results of the survey to EUDs: Establishing internal control, external audit and
anti-corruption measures ..............................................................................................66

Results of the survey to EUDs: Contribution of the EU to improving intra-agency
co-operation ..................................................................................................................72

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Based on lessons learned in different geographical and political contexts, the operational guidelines
have been evolving over the time, gradually covering new areas of specific relevance to border
systems world-wide, notably in the fields of

visas;

migration;

asylum;

data protection;

risk analysis and selectivity.

The guideline document is commonly described as a reference document intended for EU staff in
Delegations and Headquarters, partners and donor agencies working and supporting projects in the
field of IBM and they serve to achieve the following:

Define the concept of IBM

Provide practical examples of implementation of IBM.

Provide guidance on the framework for the establishment of national IBM strategies and action
plans.

1.1.2 Ind112 - Level of comprehensiveness and consistency of documented policy
statements, goals and objectives related to IBM and OC (including existence and
consistency of links between the existing elements of the EU policy framework related
to OC and the ones related to IBM)

Although IBM (including measures against border-related forms of OC) has become a priority area for
cooperation with third countries in general,  at  the  latest  by  the  reference  contained  in  the  EU’s  Global  
Approach to Migration (proactive migration management in its various meanings from encouraging to
slowing down migratory movements), the worldwide implementation of this concept provides a rather
differentiated picture from a geographical as well as chronological point of view. The degree to which
IBM/OC goals and objectives have been documented comprehensively and consistently thus varies
considerably and needs to be analysed on a case by case basis.

Another difficulty lies in the fact, that – as we have seen above – IBM and OC represent subject areas
without a uniform/unique framework from the outset. Still EU policy-makers have done a maximum to
reconcile diverging tendencies so to produce creative synergy rather than destructive contradiction.
In particular, the unequal pair of facilitation and security had led to never ending discussions about the
most appropriate border management approach3, whereby changing historic tides gave prevalence to
sometimes to one, sometimes the other side (e.g. facilitation in times of economic growth and free-
trade concepts, security as response to the rise of global terrorism). Nevertheless efficiency
constraints in times of scarce resources have enforced a creation of combined schemes for both
situations   but   also   a   sort   of   “co-habitation”   of   formerly   incompatible   agencies   such   as   border   police  
and customs.

Such  complications  prevailing  at  the  EU’s  own  borders,  the  situation  is  more  relaxed  with  regard  to  EU

support to third countries. As shown under indicator 1.1.1. above, support conditions under the EU
development cooperation and external relations framework are more generous than under the
internal legislation. Wide concepts such as the promotion of trade/labour migration under the
auspices of poverty reduction, institution-building as part of good governance and security as a

method to cut the vicious circle of poverty/war allowed for a rather smooth integration of IBM and OC

objectives.

Nevertheless issues of comprehensiveness and consistency may appear at various levels.

As a downside of the wide scope of development goals, the implementation of support
measures may suffer from a lack of concrete guidance, if no EU internal policies are
available that may be directly transposed onto the international level. In the case of IBM/OC,

this problem has fortunately been overcome by the establishment of detailed Guidelines for
Integrated Border Management in EU external action which render the practical
implementation of such measures as well as its implementation control rather simple. Based

on original concepts for the Western Balkan and Central Asia, this text has been continuously

amended and refined to cover also specific regional scenarios such as the IBM concept

applied in the EU Schengen area.

3 See the changing character of discussions within the European (European Council, JHA Council) as well as
international fora (UN, WCO).

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A lack of consistency may arise in the case of third countries which subsequently become
accession candidates. Situations of this kind arose in Western Balkans which in first place
were beneficiaries of the abovementioned IBM Guidelines in their original 2004 version
(CARDS programme) before they decided to apply for EU membership and had to undergo
another and diverging training in border matters. Countries such as Croatia complained that
the   “External   Action   IBM   Guidelines”   were   not   aligned   with   the   EU-Schengen acquis4.
Nowadays, however, the contrast may not be conceived any more of such a striking nature, as
the 2010 Guidelines in their annex 1 give full account of the specific Schengen situation.

1.1.3 Ind113 - Consistency between documented EU policy statements, goals, objectives and

international efforts for co-ordination and harmonisation on IBM and OC

While the basic EU strategy tool, the EU Guidelines for Integrated Border Management in External
Co-operation (2009/10), appears well aligned with corresponding international efforts in this field, we
have to acknowledge that depending on the regional or historic context not all EU support measures
implement the full scope of these guidelines. In some cases, such measures put unilateral emphasis
on migration issues and still within this domain there are considerable differences as to whether this
phenomenon is seen exclusively as a security-threat or also as a positive element in the framework of
poverty reduction.

In parallel to the rise of IBM within the internal European context during the past decade, also the UN
along with other major international organisations (OSCE, OECD, WCO) discovered IBM as a
helpful tool to enhance the development of states not only in trade or economic terms but also in the
context of state and regional stability. In addition, the basic values and further goals referred to on
both sides were rather identical, all the more as they were derived from the established set of
accepted standards laid down in the Millennium Goals (poverty reduction, good governance…).

Box 2: IBM and OC in major UN and international policy/strategy frameworks

The UN, along with other international organisations, has in the past decade discovered IBM as a
helpful tool to enhance the development of states not only in trade or economic terms but also in the
context of state and regional stability. IBM as an institution might help prevent infrastructures from
collapsing in a so-called  ‘failing  state’.  

More concretely, IBM measures are recommended in a number of contexts, be it as instrument of
trade enhancement (e.g. UN Trade Facilitation Network5, UN Conference on Trade & Development,
UN Trust Fund for Trade Facilitation), for stability as well as economic growth (UN Development
Programme6) or to improve security against organised crime and terrorism (UN Global Counter-
Terrorism Strategy7).

Despite these multiple and seemingly divergent objectives, the UN bodies constantly emphasise the

holistic function of borders; development aid should support capacities in security as well as trade and
transit facilitation8. Based on its joint activities with the EU in Central Asia (Border Management
Programme in Central Asia - BOMCA), UNDP also advocates the Guidelines for IBM in EU External
Co-operation.

Without developing a detailed concept of its own, the Organisation for Security & Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) equally stresses the double purpose of borders in the sense of being open and

secure. In this perspective, it promotes a wide co-operation concept involving border guards, customs
and other relevant services – very similar to the above-mentioned Guidelines for IBM in EU External
Co-operation with which OSCE is acquainted through joint action in locations such as Central Asia
and the Western Balkans.9

In view of enhancing global efforts in the field of human security, the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) – with the full support of the EU – employs a whole-of-
government approach involving policy areas as diverse as development co-operation, trade, finance
and external/internal security. While the fundamental principles (notably that “inappropriate   security  

structures  and  mechanisms  impact  negatively  on  poverty  reduction”) of the OECD-SSR approach are

4 Statement  by  the  Croatian  representative  at  the  Wilton  Park  Conference  „Completing the Croatian Accession
Negotiations and Prospects for West Balkans EU Membership”,  Zagreb  17-20/11/2009.

5 http://www.gfptt.org/uploadedFiles/7488d415-51ca-46b0-846f-daa145f71134.pdf.
6 UNDP, Democratic Governance : Border Management; http://www.undp.org/eu/dg_border_management.shtml
7 UN GCTS of 2006, http://www.un.org/terrorism/strategy-counter-terrorism.shtml#poa2; a specific Working Group
on Border Management has been inaugurated in January 2011.
8 E.g. UNDP ibid.
9 OSCE, Border security and management concept, 2005. http://www.osce.org/mc/17452

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laid down in the DAC reference document “Security   System   Reform   and   Governance” of 2005,
more   practical   scenarios   are   addressed   by   the   2007   “Handbook   on   Security   System   Reform”.   This  
includes a detailed advice on crucial sectors including that of IBM. It should thereby be noted, that the
OECD approach, despite its security-focused context, employs a very wide action formula, requiring
IBM reforms to impact positively not only on security and safety, but also on regional stability and the
facilitation of trade and development. The OECD thus remains fully in line with the holistic strategy of
the other international organisations.
Finally, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) offers a primarily trade-oriented concept10
characterised not so much by narrowly fixed structures than by the objective of achieving “…higher  
levels   of   synergy…” between all partners involved, meaning state authorities as well as economic
operators. WCO expressly combines facilitation and security concerns. It willingly extends its co-
operation concept to all relevant government agencies, in particular those involved in person-related
border controls. There is just one item about which WCO remains formal and that is their preference
for co-ordinated forms of co-operation (network solutions rather than merging agencies into one
omnipotent border service). It is for this reason that WCO prefers the label of Co-ordinated Border
Management (CBM) rather than IBM.

A striking similarity exists also content-wise between the IBM approaches employed by the above
EU guidelines and those adopted by the international organisations: as a basic feature they all favour
a holistic concept integrating a wide range of (1) purposes (trade/travel facilitation as well as security
concerns) and (2) agencies involved (border guards/police as well as customs and further authorities).
This positive interaction is also evidenced by the good practical cooperation existing e.g. in Central
Asia where the EU guidelines are implemented in the BOMCA border project, jointly run by EU and
UNDP (see also EQ 2).

1.2 JC 12 - Appropriate guidance for the design and implementation of the EU
support is available

1.2.1 Ind121 - Evidence that EU policies, strategies and reference documents relative to IBM
& OC provide clear operational guidance

Positive evidence on the practical usefulness of EU guidance exists at various levels, i.e. in terms of
the content-analysis of the guidelines in question as well as the practical results achieved by their
implementation in various beneficiary regions world-wide.

The Guidelines for IBM in EU External Co-operation provide pragmatic help and advice in the most
comprehensive way, i.e. from initial planning to final completion of national/regional IBM systems. The
guidelines also take care of the border-related measures against organised crime.

Moreover, concrete results achieved in various conflict-stricken areas such as the Balkans, the
Caucasus region and Central Asia confirm the practical value of the approach. And last but not least it
is the apparent appreciation by UN, IOM and other high-level international organisations which adds to
the evidence that the EU support as provided during the evaluation period and afterwards is on the
right track.

There is also some positive internal dynamic which we can observe through the interaction between
the guidelines and their practical implementation in the field. On the one side the guidelines promoted
IBM and OC-related progress within the beneficiary country, on the other this process in terms of a
side-effect led to the acquisition of practical experience and constructive feedback which in turn
helped to improve the guidelines. In fact, many of the improvements which the guidelines underwent
from the initial 2004 Western Balkans version to the most recent External Cooperation edition of 2010
are due to such progressive interaction. Another practise-based evolution can be seen in the use of
the Schengen Handbook and the EU Customs Blueprints as handy additions to the IBM Guidelines
(e.g. EUBAM in providing advice to Ukrainian and Moldovan border authorities).
For instance, in Central Asia, the CADAP experience influenced the design of the BOMCA programme
which subsequently contributes to shaping the design of a number of interventions in the Tajik-Afghan
border. Similarly, in Mauritania, experience of the development of border staff capacities under the
RRM in 2006 laid the basis for further support in this area under the geographical budget lines. As
highlighted during the interviews carried out at EU HQ during the desk phase, the experience in
Mauritania is now used for new interventions in other countries of the region.

10 WCO, Background Paper on CBM, 2009 (http://www.wcoomd.org/).

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the ELARG and ENP context the border system in question would rather not fulfil the requirements of
an integrated structure.

For Mauritania, the project documentation analysed shows an increasing alignment with the
EU policy framework on migration developed during the evaluation period, including the
Global Approach to Migration which explicitly takes into consideration the positive aspects of
migration.

Regional integration
Again with regional integration distinct references exist within the major policy documents which for
the sake of economic growth and poverty reduction favour regional integration by means of increased
cooperation and exchange between neighbouring countries. This is notably the case for the Council
Conclusions   14479/07   which   stress   the   link   between   regional   integration   and   the   “elimination   of  
remaining intra-regional barriers to trade and services, strengthening and modernising regional
Customs rules and arrangements.”
Within the country-specific documentation (CSP and others), Senegal is the only country with an
express reference to the link between BM and regional integration.
In particular, the EUDs in ELARG countries (Albania, Serbia) judged the level of EU support to border
management  and  regional  integration  as  “very  high”.  Interestingly,  the  results  from  the  EUD  to   Croatia
do not reflect the results achieved for the other countries in the ELARG region, as for Croatia the level
of coherence was perceived  as  “very  low”.
Moreover, for some ENP countries (Georgia, Ukraine) a relatively high level of coherence seems to be
apparent. In Georgia an intensified dialogue on regional integration issues seems to be existent.

Trade development assistance
Policy documents on trade development assistance frequently allude to IBM-related mechanisms
without expressly mentioning the concept behind: this is the case for the 2002 Trade and
Development Communication (COM (2002) 513) as well as the 2007 Council Conclusions (14470/07)
which both emphasize the beneficiary effect of border reorganisation/streamlining for trade promotion
and economic growth.
Very similarly, trade development and enhancement appear frequently in the country-specific
documentation stressing the logical nexus between well-organised borders and trade development.
While the main emphasis lies again on the ELARG and ENP regions, which is also confirmed through
the results of the EUD survey, these synergies are referred to in all other EU partner regions, the only
exception concerns Mauritania where the cooperation quasi exclusively concerns migration control.

Security Sector Reform
In the field of Security sector reform (SSR) border authorities (border guards, customs) are seen as
“core  security  actors”  and  thus  – where appropriate - as addressees of Security Sector Reform (SSR)
measures16. Although the EU and OECD SSR approaches are security-centred, they recognize the
value of border authorities also in its civilian context, i.e. their crucial contribution to the maintenance
of stable state structures by means of ensuring the integrity of state borders/state territory as well as
the due collection of revenues in terms of customs duties and taxes.

For Afghanistan,   the   EUD   notes   that   “Deteriorating security situation over the mentioned
periods contributed to increasing focus on the Law Enforcement side of the IBM effort. At the
same time, Afghanistan's regional economic potential also received additional attention,
increasing the relevance of related considerations”
However, at the level of country-specific documentation, this link is not any further maintained: none of
the documents examined contains a specific reference to SSR.
To summarise, no inconsistencies were detected from the analyses, thus, corroborating the
assumption that a good level of coherence was achieved during the evaluation period. The evidence
available most robustly confirms an increase in coherence for EU external co-operation policies
related to migration, followed European security strategy, trade policies and regional integration.

16 see Concept of EC Support to SSR (2006) and OECD Security Sector Reform and Governance (2005)

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2.3.3 Ind233 - Level of integration of the crosscutting issues of human rights and democratic
governance into EU strategies and programmes related to IBM and OC

Based on the EUD survey, a huge number of EUDs perceived the importance attached by the EU to
human  rights  issues  in  relation  to  border  management  as  “high”  or  “very  high”.  

Although a very important issue in the area of border management, human rights received relatively
little EU support during the evaluation period. Yet, the level of integration or mainstreaming of cross-
cutting issues of human rights and democratic governance has increased during the evaluation period.
In ELARG and also to some extent in ENP East, human rights aspects have increasingly been
integrated into EU support to border management (see also EQ4 and EQ7).

In Albania, for PAMECA issues of human rights were in later time periods increasingly integrated.
According to a ROM report "[…]  the  current  project  documents  present  a  clearer focus on the relevant
cross-cutting issues such as gender, human rights, good governance and donor coordination. They
are now being adequately mainstreamed in the project documents and implementation." Moreover,
field interviews showed that human rights and the protection of vulnerable migrants were sufficiently
and effectively addressed by the Albanian Border Police. OSCE complimented the Border Police
making positive comment with regard to their procedures and the manner in which they conducted
them.

As regards borders, the major fundamental rights issue concerns the respect of the 1951 Geneva
Refugee Convention in terms of the asylum procedure. Border authorities are supposed to grant
asylum seekers refugee status and, in particular, not to reject them due to an alleged illegal crossing
of   the   border   (interdiction   of   “refoulement”).   Consequently,   in   countries   in   which   border   management  
activities take place in parallel with other actions, basically focusing on the protection of illegal
migrants and refugees, human rights issues seem to be particularly well integrated in the
programmes. This is, for instance, underpinned by the project documentation for Mauritania, which
integrated dimensions of good governance and human rights.

The project description of the Gestion de la migration EDF assistance project in Mauritania
indicates:  “the  whole  project  will  also  help  achieving  the  following  objectives:  (…)  resistance  to  
corruption and support to the rule of law by promoting transparency and ensuring compliance
with the standard operating procedures in the area of border management as well as
improving and obtaining travel documents and identification systems.”

Moreover, the project documentation refers to the issues of human rights by indicating “the  
project is a great step forward regarding human rights, as currently without an established
policy, there is virtually no guarantee for illegal migrants, their rights are not respected.
According to statements from officials, the law is sometimes applied and conditions for
safeguarding the integrity of persons is violated.

Such protection is generally laid down in border-related legislation and also forms an element of the
border guard training curricula (e.g. EU support in ELARG and ENP East, see aIso EQ7). However,
according to refugee organisations, there is in reality still only limited effect at borders. In particular for
Ukraine, individual cases of violation are still being reported in 2012. Moreover, it is noteworthy that
instead of integrating capacity building intervention in wider IBM interventions, many EU funded
activities in this regard have been implemented in disconnection to these programmes.

It is noteworthy that for some cases (e.g. Ukraine, Afghanistan) the issue of security the issue of
security still seems to prevail over human rights and democratic governance concerns.

Corruption has also remained a major obstacle. While the EU has increasingly integrated anti-
corruption components in border management interventions and EU support has been instrumental in
enshrining the concept of corruption as an offence in criminal law (e.g. Albania, Serbia, Belarus and
EUBAM, see also EQ4), corruption and bribery remain a widespread social phenomenon.

“Anti-corruption measures are in place in all beneficiary Customs Administrations”   (EU   Customs   &  
Fiscal Blueprints Exercise 2010 - 2011). CAFAO contributed through providing technical assistance
and training, for instance in Montenegro and FYROM. However, there is only limited evidence on the
effectiveness of these measures. Interviews with staff indicated that legal basis was weak (EU
Customs and Fiscal Blueprints exercise 2011).

In Albania,   IBM   Action   Plan   states   “There   exists   a   national   anti-corruption strategy. The legal
framework to fight corruption exists as well. Border Police personnel are legally bound to fight
corruption.”   The   Customs   Ethics   chapter   of   the   EU   Customs   Blueprint   Report   states   “Internal  
investigation function yet to be put in place. Legal framework for investigation of corruption cases not
in  place.”  However,  referring  to  Customs  the  IBM   Strategy  states  “A  national  anti-corruption strategy
exists as well as a suitable legal framework. ACS is bound by law to fight corruption. Currently,
Customs is developing an anti-corruption strategy specific   to   their   needs.”   However,   Internal   Audit  

Thematic global evaluation of the European Union's support to IBM & OC
Final Report Volume II; April 2013; Particip GmbH/EGEVAL II