News

For the Duration of three days, EUBAM Rafah held its first “Leadership Development” workshop. The workshop, which started on April 1st, was the first of a series of three leadership trainings targeting top General Administration for Borders and Crossings (GABC) managers.

Throughout its year-long activities, EUBAM Rafah has remained dedicated to the empowerment of women working under the umbrella of the General Administration for Borders and Crossings on all border-related issues. This comes as part of the Mission’s efforts to support women in their strive for further social, economic, cultural and political achievements. 

With globalisation, border authorities play an increasingly important role in facilitating trade and circulation of goods and people across borders while protecting national interests and security.

Yet, corruption and weak accountability make borders porous and difficult to control, thus fuelling various forms of illegal activities such as human and drug trafficking, arms and goods smuggling in addition to organised crime and terrorism. Cross-border corruption has a severe negative impact on trade, revenue collection, shipping costs and security.

This week, the last of three training modules was delivered to the General Administration for Borders and Crossings (GABC). The module forms part of a comprehensive training programme, which is foreseen to be concluded later this year with a study trip.

The programme aims to enhance the operational performance of five designated units within GABC. It entails assessing the work and organisational capacity of each unit and bringing forward recommendations as to how their operational capacity and daily functioning can be improved.

Countering terrorism is a universal effort that rests on many agencies and institutions working to protect our societies. Early detection of potential terrorism and plotting extremism are counter-terrorism means which contributes to higher security through prevention and elimination of threats and risks. 

EUBAM Rafah has welcomed a delegation from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealing with EU Missions in the region, the Swedish Consulate General in Jerusalem and the Embassy in Tel Aviv.

The Head of EUBAM Rafah Guenther Freisleben and Nazmi Mhanna the General Director of General Administration of Borders and Crossings (GABC) signed a Donation Agreement on 16 January 2019 in Jericho.

This week, members of the Integrated Strategic Planning Division of the European Union Crisis Management and Planning Directorate visited the occupied Palestinian territory and Tel Aviv to conduct an interim strategic review of EUBAM Rafah.

The purpose of this type of strategic reviews is not to examine the performance or progress of the Mission, but to evaluate the relevance of the Mission’s mandate on a backdrop of the current operational and political situation, and to get a clear idea of the challenges of the Mission in this perspective.

This week, the two EU Missions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, EUBAM Rafah and EUPOL COPPS, co-organized a two-day training on effective investigation and prosecution of border related crimes.

Two experts from The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)  delivered a training on fighting cross-border irregularities and frauds for 24 participants from the General Administration of Borders and Crossings (GABC), border agencies and the Anti-Corruption Commission in Jericho.