Vienna, Austria: The study visit of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan to Vienna, Austria on 11-15 October raised the awareness of executives from MOI-FIA on existing international cooperation tools and procedures, as well as good practices to combat human trafficking, migrant smuggling and irregular migration. The visit also built trust and confidence among law enforcement practitioners and explored the pathways for future cooperation to support Pakistani law enforcement in expanding their capacities.
A video on the study visit, with testimonials from the officials who took part, can be accessed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hs3kHwbxEk
While informal direct law enforcement cooperation and information exchange is not a substitute for established legal channels, it does however facilitate cross-border cooperation and results in more efficient joint investigations and increased prosecutions. This includes real-time intelligence sharing coupled with open-source intelligence gathering and artificial intelligence techniques (like the utilisation of automated mobile forensic analysis tools) being applied in cases related to trafficking in human beings, smuggling of migrants and irregular migration.
The study visit was organised within the framework of the EU-funded project “Improving Migration Management in the Silk Routes countries” and the “Silk Road” project implemented by the Joint Operational Office on Combating people smuggling and human trafficking (JOO) of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and the Austrian Police Academy.
