CEPOL training programme on migration - a success story

CEPOL organised four training activities on migration between January and March 2016. 145 participants from all over the EU and from Western Balkans countries took part in the activities. 45 experts contributed to the content and the facilitation of the workshops.

The content

The two first training courses - 89 and 90/2015 - gathered high profile officials and experts from the many law enforcement agencies confronted with the phenomenon of immigration. During the working sessions, the contributors scanned all strategic aspects of policing in the context of migration flows, including public order, criminal investigations and community policing, covering a wide range of topics such as migration routes, EU strategies in source, transit and destination countries, the impact of migration on public security and community cohesion etc.

The two last activities - 91 and 92/2015 - targeted investigators and experts involved in criminal matters linked to migration. One put the focus on the Mediterranean area, while the sister course covered the Western Balkans region. The main goal was to prepare law enforcement officials to perform cross-border investigations in compliance with the recommendations of the EU action plan on migrant smuggling. They were “learning-by-doing” activities: the participants had to perform a virtual cross-border investigation on migrant smuggling across the 3-days training. The scenario offered opportunities to carry out proactive criminal and financial investigations, using the resources of EU agencies, the JITs instrument, SIS II and Interpol tools.

The outcomes

All participants in the four courses were also invited to reflect on the implementation of current EU decisions related to migration. The opinions from these 145 law enforcement officials will be aggregated to form a final "opinion paper" which will be conveyed by CEPOL to its stakeholders, the European Commission and the COSI (Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security).

Last but not least, the 45 experts contributing to the residential training recorded short summaries of their contributions in studio. These recordings will form the basis of a comprehensive online module on migration.

Statements from participants

CEPOL implemented this ambitious training programme on migration in order to meet the urgent needs of the law enforcement community. The steady commitment of all players involved, and particularly of partner agencies like Europol and Frontex, under the careful supervision of the European Commission, made this training programme a success, as it was witnessed by many participants:

"As usual CEPOL courses are very well organised, have a very high professional level and are a nice experience!!!" - participant from course 89/2015.

"The pre-course materials were very useful to me, and helped me to understand the aim of the course. We could learn how to cooperate on an international level - both at EU level and with the third countries" - participant from course 90/2015.

"All topics addressed were very appropriate for learning: case scenarios, creating powerpoints and giving presentations made the strongest part of the course. I reckon these are really useful for everybody. Besides, these courses are the best opportunities to get to know each other!" - participant from course 91/2015.

"There was a good balance between the presentations and the workshops. It was nice to work in small groups to get to know each other. I learned a lot and it was interesting to network with other colleagues about their experiences in their countries, especially concerning Albania and Turkey" - participant from course 92/2015.