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Friday, March 29, 2024

UN Launches Program to Detect and Disrupt Terrorist Travel

A new program aimed at improving the tracking of suspected terrorists, using state-of-the-art software, was launched by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) on May 7.

The launch at UN Headquarters in New York, of the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel Programme, comes in the wake of the territorial defeat of the Iraq and Syria-based ISIL terrorist group. Thousands of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) are attempting to return home or relocate to safe havens or conflict zones, representing a major threat to international peace and security.

The program, described by UNOCT as a “flagship initiative,” is designed to help countries to enhance the detection of FTFs and serious criminals, through the collection, identification, and analysis of their passenger data.

Several UN counter-terrorism departments, as well as the International Civil Aviation Organization, will work closely together to implement the initiative, which provides countries with free access to advanced “goTravel” software, which analyses travel data to help countries detect and disrupt terrorists’ movements.

Another aspect of the program involves the UN supporting national authorities in the development of legislation and national expertise, via training and certification to operate the software lawfully and effectively.

The goTravel software is a UN-owned reconfigured version of a system donated by the Netherlands to the United Nations. Derived from the Travel Information Portal (TRIP), developed by the Netherlands, goTravel supports the end-to-end process for law enforcement to obtain passenger data from airline carriers and conduct targeted analysis as well as share the findings of their data assessment.

Member States adopt the UN-owned and operated goTravel solution to enable the automated analysis of large data volumes on passengers on all inbound and outbound traffic. For now, this is limited to air travel. Possible expansion of scope to maritime, international high-speed rail and coach information is under consideration.

Speaking at the launch of the program, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said that recent attacks, notably those in Kenya, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, are “tragic reminders of the global reach of the scourge of terrorism.”

The UN chief noted the “dramatic movement” of terrorists to and from conflict zones around the world over the past seven years, in particular the estimated 40,000 FTFs from 110 countries who may have travelled to join terror groups in Syria and Iraq.

Guterres also stated that the program will help states to collect, process and share travel data with other competent national and international authorities, with full respect for privacy and other fundamental freedoms.

In an interview with UN News, Jelle Postma, chief of the Countering Terrorist Travel and Aviation Security Section in the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, insisted that the technology was built with safeguards in place for data and human rights protection, explaining that after a certain period of time, sensitive data elements, such as sexual orientation, or trade union membership, will be automatically deleted by the system.

Postma said that the UN will work with national parliaments to ensure that new surveillance laws include independent and transparent oversight mechanisms.

The program is currently funded by India, Japan, the Netherlands, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

 

UN Launches Program to Detect and Disrupt Terrorist Travel Homeland Security Today
Kylie Bielby
Kylie Bielby has more than 20 years' experience in reporting and editing a wide range of security topics, covering geopolitical and policy analysis to international and country-specific trends and events. Before joining GTSC's Homeland Security Today staff, she was an editor and contributor for Jane's, and a columnist and managing editor for security and counter-terror publications.
Kylie Bielby
Kylie Bielby
Kylie Bielby has more than 20 years' experience in reporting and editing a wide range of security topics, covering geopolitical and policy analysis to international and country-specific trends and events. Before joining GTSC's Homeland Security Today staff, she was an editor and contributor for Jane's, and a columnist and managing editor for security and counter-terror publications.

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