Border Management News

International Maritime Organization (IMO)  joined other United Nations agencies supporting Senegal’s maritime and port security, in an assessment visit to Dakar (27-29 March). IMO acted as the lead agency for maritime security provisions during the assessment of Senegal’s implementation of important Security Council resolutions addressing counter-terrorism. Border management was a main focus of the mission, which included meetings with maritime authorities and border management agencies. The visit, led by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED), was a follow-up to a similar mission in 2009, which focused on border control and police cooperation. UNCTED counter-terrorism missions of this kind embrace security in all its forms.

Three passenger boats return migrants from Lesbos, Chios; desperate migrants continue to cross despite deal. The first migrants deported from Greek islands under a disputed EU-Turkey deal were shipped back to Turkey on Monday in a drive to shut down the main route by which a million people fleeing war and poverty crossed the Aegean Sea in the last year. Under the pact criticised by refugee agencies and human rights campaigners, Ankara will take back all migrants and refugees who enter Greece illegally, including Syrians. In return, the European Union will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with more money, early visa-free travel and progress in its EU membership negotiations.

Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Immediate Past Chairman of Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations In India (FFFAI) was unanimously elected as Chairman of International Federation of Customs Brokers Association (IFCBA) at the Board of Directors Meeting of IFCBA held in Seoul, Korea recently. Bhadkamkar is the Managing Director (Group CEO) of ATC Group,a leading Customs Broker & International Freight Forwarder in India. Apart from being Chairman of IFCBA and Immediate Past Chairman of FFFAI, he is the Sr. Vice – President of Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA, Vice –President of Association of Multimodal Transport Operators In India (AMTOI) and Immediate Past Chairman of Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

A U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Mounted Police law enforcement boat crew conducted the first Shiprider patrol of the 2014 Great Lakes boating season, Thursday, in Lake Erie. The Shiprider Program allows U.S. and Canadian maritime law enforcement officers to embark together on joint patrols to integrate operations on and near shared maritime borders. Law enforcement officers from Coast Guard Station Belle Isle, Michigan and a RCMP officer from Windsor, Ontario, embarked on a Coast Guard 45-foot response boat for the patrol in Lake Erie.

Inlecom Systems Ltd., the transport and logistics research and innovation company, has launched the first ever guide and checklist to enable maritime authorities and trade organizations to fulfill their obligation to deliver ship reporting formalities in electronic format via a Single Window. This is a timely and significant step forward because under the EU Directive 2010/65/EU, commonly known as the FAL Directive, Member States are mandated to adopt a Single Window system no later than June 1, 2015.

The 'Cape St George' has been named during a ceremony held at Austal’s Henderson shipyard in Western Australia. Cape St George is the first of eight new boats being built by Austal for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service under a design, construct and in-service support contract valued at approximately A$330 million. The naming ceremony was attended by the Australian Special Minister for State, the Hon. Gary Gray AO; and former President of the Australian Senate Margaret Reid AO, who officially named the vessel.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began a pilot program today that will collect biometric information from illegal migrants interdicted while attempting entry into U.S. territory through the body of water between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico known as the Mona Passage. The U.S. Coast Guard will compare the digital fingerprints and photographs of illegal migrants against the US-VISIT database, which includes information about wanted criminals, immigration violators and those who previously encountered government authorities. Those attempting to illegally enter the United States and its territories are prosecuted under U.S. law in conjunction with bilateral agreements in effect.