INTERPOL regional training in Cambodia aims to build ASEAN capacity against terrorism

20 November 2015

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Participants from ASEAN Countries have attended an INTERPOL specialized training session designed to support them in the use of INTERPOL capabilities against potential criminal and terrorist networks.

The INTERPOL Counter-Terrorism Investigative Skills Training (10 – 20 November 2015) brought together 23 counter-terrorism, immigration, and INTERPOL National Central Bureaus (NCBs) officers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The training session was organized under the auspices of the INTERPOL Capacity Building Programme on Improving Counter-Terrorism Investigation and International Collaboration in ASEAN member states. Through this programme, jointly funded by INTERPOL and the Government of Canada, INTERPOL has trained more than 280 people since August 2014.

During their training, delegates drafted a national standard operating procedures (SOP) plan on lost and stolen travel documents, in accordance with INTERPOL’s Rules on the Processing of Data (RPD). The SOP plan will allow for full compliance with INTERPOL’s rule during operational activities and help reinforce coordination between different national law enforcement agencies.

INTERPOL also delivered an operational exercise on using INTERPOL’s Nominal and Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) databases at Phnom Penh international airport. The exercise was organized together with NCB Phnom Penh, the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation and the General Department of Immigration of Cambodia. It provided an operational opportunity for ASEAN delegates to practice searches against INTERPOL’s databases, alongside Cambodian border guards.

As part of the training session, 20 high-level law enforcement delegates from ASEAN met (19 to 20 November) to discuss future projects on strengthening border management and on strategies to boost international cooperation in the field of countering terrorism. The delegates included heads of immigration, counter-terrorism and INTERPOL NCBs from participating countries.

Lim Thong, Deputy Commissioner of the Cambodian National Police, underlined the importance of such training activities for ASEAN countries, the security of which depends on regional cooperation: “The training session enabled officials to build a rich and vital network which will greatly enhance communication and the exchange of information between ASEAN countries in the future.”

Julia Viedma, INTERPOL Director of Capacity Building and Training, noted that “the course will enable countries in the region to exploit INTERPOL’s policing capabilities to their full potential.”

Mohamad Anil Shah Bin Abdullah, ASEANAPOL Director for Police Services, and Lim Sokharaksmey, Head of NCB Phnom Penh, were also present at the training session’s closing ceremony.