SECURITY – INTEROPERABILITY- COOPERATION-INFORMATION SHARING-ACTION ON MANAGING MIGRATION FLOW IN THE WESTERN BALKANS
SECURITY – INTEROPERABILITY- COOPERATION-INFORMATION SHARING-ACTION ON MANAGING MIGRATION FLOW IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Summary/Abstract: Western Balkans are entering into the seventh active year of mass-migration crisis with mixed results on the ability to direct, manage, house, register, assist and repatriatecertain migrants or groups of migrants. This study collated available information from variousprocess stakeholders and analysed strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) inthe approaches to migrant crisis in North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo*, Serbia, Montenegroand Bosnia-Herzegovina. The main goal of the study was to investigate if the opportunitieswere seized / missed in improving cooperation, communication, interoperability amongthe stakeholders to make the flow of migration more humane, manageable, transparent(accountable) and effective in the field. Given security considerations and challenges ofthe migration flow as well as its subsidiary elements involving human smuggling / humantrafficking and movement of problematic personnel, the analysis highlights some of the noveloperative and technical solutions that can be fielded to improve identification, registrationand additional screening or removal as required. Particularly important elements are theadvances in digital data capture, biometrics, correlation, language recognition and informationsharing among the varying levels of stakeholders. The analysis also identified significantopportunities in improving communication and data sharing among the principal countriesof the migration route (North Macedonia – Serbia – Bosnia and Herzegovina), which could bebeneficial in enhancing other security-related issues among the Western Balkan countries.The main challenge encountered is the lack of communications and reporting protocolsas well as lack of documentation standards suitable for data entry, storage, indexing andsearching. The analysis concludes that implementation of standardized, technical solutionsmay resolve some of the identified communications, mistrust or data sharing issues describedin the SWOT analyses.

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