Effective border management can play a significant role in preventing human trafficking, illicit smuggling and terrorism. This book, by the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the Indonesian Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies (LESPERSSI), explains the importance of state border management in relation to reforming the security sector. It also considers the experience of Hungarian border guard reform, outlines Indonesia’s current border condition, and makes proposals regarding modern border management.
Borders traditionally define geographic boundaries of political entities of legal jurisdictions such as governments, states or sub-national administrative divisions. Borders exist to regulate migration, collect customs duties and prevent smuggling – particularly weapons and drugs. They now include airports and seaports. Globalisation and technological improvements have allowed goods and services to move more freely, but have also enabled crime and terrorism to spread internationally.
These new threats and opportunities demand a new approach to border management:
- A state’s air, land and sea borders should provide a strong defence for its people against external threats but should also be highly efficient and pose no obstacle to legitimate trade and travel.
- Authorities thus need to achieve a fine balance between ensuring ‘tight controls’ in relation to criminal activities and, on the other hand, respecting human rights and guaranteeing free movement of people and goods, to facilitate economic growth.
- Although Indonesia has agreements with neighbouring countries, it lacks an unequivocal authority on border management, and thus has problems with smuggling, terrorism and illegal fishing and logging. Indonesia also has unsettled sea territory, which provokes conflict between patrols and foreign ships.
- In Hungary, border management has been improved through the installation of democratic oversight institutions, transferring security agencies other than the military from the Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of the Interior, delegating power to lower levels to improve the rapidity of responses, and improving professionalism through improving training.
- An additional motivation to improve border management in Hungary was to bring their organisation into harmony with European Union requirements.
The book makes the following recommendations with regards to how borders should be managed in the 21st century:
- Border control must become a distinctive specialist force integrated into the policing system rather than part of the regular police force or military;
- Border management requires high quality personnel that have undergone specialized training. Authorities must therefore assess training needs and define what knowledge, skills and attitudes are necessary to perform specific border guarding tasks;
- Border management depends on outstanding leadership throughout the chain of command;
- Border management requires agencies to reshape their organisation, structure, strategic and operational command and control procedures, and their logistics;
- Border management requires greater financing and should take advantage of state-of-the-art technical devices; and
- Due to the blurring of domestic and international threats, ensuring each country’s security requires not merely efficient border security but also international cooperation between countries and agencies and a harmonisation of standards is essential.
