Foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) constitute one of the major threats to international peace and security. United Nations Security Council resolution 2178 (2014) defines FTFs as individuals who travel or attempt to travel to a State other than their States of residence or nationality "for the purpose of the perpetration, planning, or preparation of, or participation in, terrorist acts, or the providing or receiving of terrorist training".
The Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in collaboration with the UNODC Country Office in Viet Nam, organized a national workshop for Viet Nam on strengthening the capacity for detecting and interdicting the travel of FTFs and suspected terrorists, in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 2178 (2014) in Hanoi on 10-12 October 2017.
The three-day workshop gathered around 30 law enforcement and criminal justice officials from relevant national authorities. The objective of the workshop was to enhance the capacity of law enforcement and criminal justice officials to investigate and prosecute FTF-related cases.
The event included sessions on the international legal framework applicable to FTF cases, operational challenges encountered by national authorities in responding to FTF cases, international cooperation and special investigative techniques. Furthermore, regional and international good practices relating to the identification and interdiction of FTFs were addressed, in the context of international human rights standards, and through improved information management as well as international cooperation.
The workshop for Viet Nam was organized within the framework of the project on strengthening the capacity of national authorities in selected Asian countries to identify and interdict foreign terrorist fighters through improved information management, generously funded by the Government of Japan.