Member States, international experts pledge to strengthen response to FTF threat
The European Commission and the Swiss Confederation, in close consultation with the United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate/CTED, organized a conference on challenges related to the phenomenon of Foreign Terrorist Fighters. The conference took place from 25-27 November in Brussels. The conference was designed to generate a common understanding of the threat posed by the phenomenon of Foreign Terrorist Fighters, as well as identifying common approaches and how the challenges it poses can be addressed by countries in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, in particular in view of the measures introduced in the UN Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014).
The conference brought together national experts from border management and law enforcement agencies, counterterrorism officials as well as policy-makers and representatives from Member States and International Organisations. More than 160 participants have registered for the conference. CTED attended the event with a four-member team.
In addition to its opening and concluding remarks, CTED served as facilitators on two working groups related to 'Detecting suspicious travel movements: tools for analysis and identification' and 'Enhancing the criminal justice response to travel and facilitation'. CTED was able to raise awareness of participants on the requirements of resolution 2178.
Several bilateral meetings were held in the margins of the conference with a large number of Member States and Organistions in which concrete follow up actions were discussed with a view to preventing the phenomenon of Foreign Terrorist Fighters.