TRIPOLI – Representatives of the military and security institutions in the East and West, including two military and police female officers, responsible for border security, counterterrorism and addressing irregular migration agreed on Wednesday 26 February to form a specialized study center tasked with conducting specialized studies on border security areas.

Members of the Joint Technical Coordination Team (JTCT) for Border Security participated in a two-day coordination meeting, facilitated by UNSMIL in Tunis. The JTCT developed a proposal of a studies center which provides an analysis of the risks around border security, that provides practical solutions which can be applied on the ground, identified the duties and tasks of the centre and its organizational structure.

The studies centre will contribute significantly to strengthening border security and combating terrorism, and addressing irregular immigration, said one of the participants, adding that it would help develop implementable solutions to border security issues and support strengthening Libyan national security. 

At the request of the JTCT, UNSMIL facilitated a field visit to one of the Tunisian land border centers near the Libyan-Tunisian border to enhance experience sharing and awareness of regional cross-border security challenges.

"The establishment of the studies center comes as part of the joint coordination mechanism approved by the JTCT for Border Security at Benghazi meeting on 17 and 18 December 2024,” said Ali Kilkal, from UNSMIL's Security Institutions Service.  

Kilkal stressed that the next step would be to physically establish the border security joint centers and to start equipping them, to enable coordination, communication and information exchange on border security.

They decided to reconvene in April in southern Libya to discuss the regional coordination mechanism.