Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community: participating agencies named
Topic
Country/Region
14 September 2022
The state agencies participating in the Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC) have been named in a response to a European parliamentary question. Thirty African states are currently participating in the AFIC. The response also says that "Risk Analysis Cells", of which eight have been set up in African states with the assistance of Frontex, are "the backbone" of the AFIC.
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The question was submitted on 1 June by Özlem Demirel (of the parliamentary group The Left) and asked:
- What countries are currently participating in the AFIC, and what plans or arrangements are there for enlargement?
- What specific authorities from the participating countries are involved in the AFIC, and how does this relate to the planned accessions of Mauritania, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Togo?
- Which of those authorities are intelligence services or police or gendarmerie forces with powers similar to those of intelligence services?
Risk Analysis Cells (RACs)
According to the answer, Frontex has recently enlarged AFIC, with new Risk Analysis Cells (RAC) set up in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Togo, and discussions now focussing on Mauritania. The first RAC was launched in Niamey, Niger, in 2018.
RACs are "embedded in the organisational structure of their respective border management authorities", according to the answer, but equipment, training, capacity building and the setting up of integrated border management systems (i.e. ensuring interoperability between EU and West African databases) are provided by Frontex.
Last year, the AFIC online information exchange system was upgraded to facilitate instantaneous communication between RAC and Frontex analysts.
| Host Country | Hosting authority |
| Nigeria | Nigeria Immigration Service |
| The Gambia | The Gambia Immigration Department |
| Niger | Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST) |
| Ghana | Ghana Immigration Service |
| Senegal | Direction Générale de la Police Nationale (DGPN) - Direction de la Police de l’Air et des Frontières (DPAF) |
| Ivory Coast | Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST) |
| Togo | Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI) |
| Mauritania | Direction de la Police de l’Air et des Frontières (DPAF) |
Intelligence
Frontex's reply insists that while it "is not in a position to fully asses which of those law enforcement authorities have powers similar to those of intelligence services", the information shared with authorities in AFIC "is limited to statistical data, use cases, description of modi operandi from border security/border management/risk analysis perspective; and does not contain any personal data."
An invitation to an AFIC workshop in 2017 described AFIC participants as "commonly part of intelligence or analytical unit(s) of the invited countries' border security and control authorities".
Frontex has also provided training to partner agencies in AFIC. In 2017, the Commission allocated €4 million under the Instrument Contributing to Stability and Peace to the three-year "Strengthening of the Africa Frontex Intelligence Community" project, which ran meetings, field visits, trainings, joint analytical work, and support for Risk Analysis Cells, with a focus on reducing facilitated illegal migration “and other types of cross-border crime”.
Participating states and agencies
| Benin | Direction Générale de la Police Républicaine |
| Benin | Agence Béninoise de Gestion Intégrée des Espaces Frontaliers (ABeGIEF) |
| Chad | Police Nationale |
| Cabo Verde | National Police - Foreign and Border Management |
| Cameroun | Ministère des Relations Extérieures du Cameroun |
| Cameroun | Police Camerounaise |
| Côte d'Ivoire | Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST) |
| DRC | Direction Générale de Migration |
| Egypt | Ministry of Defense |
| Gambia | Gambia Immigration Department |
| Ghana | Ghana Immigration Service/ Intelligence Division |
| Guinee Conakry | Direction Centrale de la Police aux Frontières |
| Guinee Conakry | Ministère de la Sécurité et de la Protection Civile / DCPAF |
| Guinea-Bissau | Ministry of Interior and Public Order |
| Kenya | Border Security |
| Mali | Direction de la Police aux Frontières |
| Morocco | Direction Générale de la Sûreté Nationale (DGSN) |
| Mauritania | Gendarmerie Nationale |
| Niger | Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire |
| Niger | Police Nationale |
| Nigeria | Nigeria Immigration Service, Kano Zonal Command |
| Nigeria | National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) |
| Nigeria | Nigeria Immigration Service |
| Nigeria | EU Delegation Nigeria |
| Mali | Ministère de la Sécurité et de la Protection Civile/Direction Générale de la Police Nationale/Direction de la Police aux Frontières |
| Mali | Gendarmerie 3 |
| Mauritania | Gendarmerie Nationale |
| Somalia | Ministry of Internal Security |
| Somalia | Security Department |
| Senegal | Direction Générale de la Police Nationale (DGPN), Direction de la Police de l’Air et des Frontières (DPAF), Division Nationale de Lutte Contre le Trafic de Migrants et Pratiques Assimilées (DNLT), Centre de Monitoring et de Profiling |
| Sierra Leone | National Early Warning and Response Mechanism Centre |
| South Sudan | Public relations |
| South Sudan | Immigrations |
| Sudan | MoI Sudan Police HQ Passports and Immigration Directorate |
| Togo | Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI) |
| Togo | Direction Générale de la Documentation Nationale (DGDN) |
Documentation
- 1 August 2022: Frontex: Answer to Parliamentary question - E-002003/2022
- 1 June 2022: Özlem Demirel: Question for written answer E-002003/2022 - Enlargement of the Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community
- May 2017: Frontex: Second Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC) Workshop; Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), 23-25 May 2017
Further reading
- 18 August 2022: Frontex celebrates "expanding footprint" beyond the EU in report on third country cooperation
- 19 November 2021: Frontex cooperation with third countries: examining the human rights implications
- 22 December 2020: Fontex: an overview
- 15 October 2020: EU: Tracking the Pact: Reinforced cooperation against migrant smuggling with Balkan and African "partners"
Image: Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community 2014 report
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