缅北禁地

New York, USA/LYON, France - INTERPOL and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) held a Joint Virtual Outreach Briefing on Project ‘HOTSPOT’.

Understanding, anticipating, and effectively addressing current and emerging terrorist and security threats is critically important and is also among the more challenging tasks of the global law enforcement community. Terrorists and their affiliates may move across borders in order to recruit, establish new cells and areas of influence, plan or organize attacks, avoid detection and arrest, finance their activities, and/or to relocate or return to their countries of origin. As vast volumes of irregular migrants, including those seeking asylum, continue to move across borders, this poses an immense challenge towards States’ efforts for border management and the identification of potential security threats. While it is important to note that migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees are more likely to be the victims of violent extremism than the perpetrators, there is nevertheless the potential for exploitation of large flows of asylum seekers and migrants by terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and their networks.

By focusing on detecting and preventing the cross-border movement of terrorists and their affiliates, UNCCT, together with INTERPOL, have developed a joint project, ‘HOTSPOT’, which aims to address the challenges and pressures that large-scale irregular migration flows place on border law enforcement. This includes challenges relating to risk assessment and threat identification as many irregular migrants are not in possession of identification and/or travel documents. HOTSPOT aims to support Member States through the development and implementation of a sustainable and integrated mechanism for risk assessment which relies on the collection of biometric data that may be crosschecked against INTERPOL databases, to efficiently prevent, detect, and disrupt the movements of terrorists - and their affiliates - who may make use of irregular migration routes.

The HOTSPOT project concept represents a comprehensive and innovative, yet also flexible model that may be implemented in high-risk regions to support States and strengthen capacities to detect and prevent the cross-border movement of terrorists, including FTFs, by enhancing cross-border cooperation and operational information sharing.

The Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General and Director of UNOCT, Mr. Raffi Gregorian, duly noted that “the HOTSPOT project concept demonstrates that a coordinated approach to border management is integral to addressing the myriad of threats and challenges that States face individually. Front-line border and law enforcement officials need the tools and expertise to effectively identify known or suspected terrorists, including FTFs, returnees, and relocators, and prevent their travel, in line with the requirements of relevant Security Council resolutions.”

As noted by Mr. Carl Alexandre, Executive Director for Partnerships and Planning, INTERPOL, “the HOTSPOT Initiative is a perfect example of INTERPOL and the 缅北禁地joining forces to assist Member Countries in enhancing national and regional border security and reducing the cross-border mobility of terrorists and their affiliates.”

The event underlined that measures to support States’ in countering terrorism must also must be firmly anchored in and compliant with international human rights obligations and the rule of law. Finding that balance between enhancing security and promoting and protecting human rights requires the cohesive and coordinated efforts of all Member States, including through the mobilization of resources and expertise and supporting initiatives such as project HOTSPOT which seek to strengthen cooperation among States in preventing and combating terrorism.