Deputy Director of the Coast Guard: Enhancing Arab Cooperation in Border and Airport Security
The Assistant Director General of the General Administration of Coast Guard for Maritime Operations, Colonel Khalid Burabie, emphasized the importance of enhancing joint Arab cooperation in the field of border and airport security.
Burabie stressed, in a statement to KUNA during his participation in the 18th Arab Conference of Heads of Border, Airport, and Port Security Agencies, held at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab Ministers of Interior Council in Tunisia, the importance of strengthening coordination among Arab border security agencies to confront emerging challenges, particularly waves of illegal immigration, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.
He considered that enhancing the use of technology at Arab airports and border crossings, along with the exchange of information, contributes effectively to combating crimes that threaten border security, expressing the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior’s commitment to strengthening joint Arab work to serve security in our Arab region.
The 18th Arab Conference of Heads of Border, Airport, and Port Security Agencies kicked off in the Tunisian capital, with the participation of heads of border, airport, and port security agencies from Arab countries, including the State of Kuwait, the Arab Organization for Civil Aviation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
During the opening session, the Secretary-General of the Arab Ministers of Interior Council, Mohamed Kouman, emphasized that border security in Arab countries faces diverse and emerging challenges, including waves of illegal immigration due to the displacement of thousands of civilians from their homelands fleeing the ravages of wars and armed conflicts, and escaping environments where living conditions are no longer available due to various factors, foremost among them climate fluctuations that threaten traditional development models based on agriculture and animal husbandry.
He pointed out that the geographical location of Arab countries makes them vulnerable to challenges related to migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and drug trafficking, as they serve as a transit zone between source and destination countries, placing a significant responsibility on border crossing security agencies and border guards to confront all these challenges.
He considered that the decisive factor in confronting these challenges is enhancing information exchange and full coordination among all agencies working in the border field. The conference is reviewing the experiences of member states in linking border crossings within a country and the systems and means used for this purpose, allowing for a reliable assessment of these systems and means based on the practical experience of some countries, which will help other countries make informed decisions regarding the acquisition of linking systems and means for border crossings.
