Fact sheet No.5: Security and police cooperation Fighting crime and strengthening maritime safety in the Indo-Pacific

DCSD, A MAJOR PLAYER

Within the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Directorate for Security and Defence Cooperation (DCSD) implements international cooperation in the fields of defence, internal security and civil protection, whether through training, expert missions or direct logistical assistance.

Most notably, the DCSD supports a network of security and defence schools in which French development workers are integrated (Cambodia, Djibouti, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Madagascar and Vietnam). A national school with a regional vocation is also supported in Djibouti, the Ecole internationale de perfectionnement à la pratique de la police judiciaire (EI3PJ).

The DCSD promotes francophonie, following the example of the En Avant! learning method for better integration of partner armed forces in peacekeeping operations. In partnership with the AGIR association, some twenty French foreign language lecturers (FLE) are deployed throughout the region, including at Madagascar’s École nationale des inspecteurs et agents de police and South Korea’s Naval Academy (see Fact sheet No.9 – Cultural cooperation and Francophonie).

DOMESTIC SECURITY

The network of internal security attachés (ASI) in the Indo-Pacific is made up of twelve offices covering the majority of the region’s countries. The ASIs, who are drawn from the French National Police or Gendarmerie, represent the French internal security forces, advise the ambassadors, facilitate cooperation with foreign partners, and participate in the protection of French nationals (see Fact sheet No.2 – Demographics and political representation).

The Internal Security Service (SSI) at the French Embassy in Singapore, for example, has regional responsibility for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and East Timor.

Police cooperation remains limited but is booming. CIVIPOL, the international technical cooperation operator of the French Ministry of the Interior and Overseas France, finances a few projects on the eastern coast of Africa in the fight against transnational organised crime, terrorism and money laundering. Customs has a network of three customs attachés in Beijing, Dubai and Bangkok, covering thirteen countries (see Fact sheet No.8 – Economic cooperation and business).

In 2019, France became an observer member of ASEANAPOL, a regional police cooperation organisation. The fight against child pornography in the region is a priority. The Office central de répression des violences aux personnes (OCRVP) has seconded a police officer to the Manila embassy as a regional cybercrime advisor, with a focus on cyberpornography, to assist the judicialisation of online rape procedures.

The fight against drug trafficking involves numerous operations in French maritime waters and beyond. Between March and May 2023, FAZSOI naval units based on Réunion Island seized over three tons of heroin and 240 kg of methamphetamine. In July 2023, a French officer took command of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, an international force fighting drug trafficking in the North-Eastern Indian Ocean. France is also involved in training its partners (for example with the Seychelles anti-drug office).

CIVIL SECURITY

Cooperation in the field of civil protection enables national expertise to be shared. For example, following an agreement signed in 2020 (see Fact sheet No.7 – Humanitarian Aid, crises and natural disasters), France is helping to build Mongolia’s national capacities and train Mongolian rescue teams: training in the use of fire-fighting vehicles and rescue helicopters purchased from France, training in helicopter rescue in aquatic environments, and so on. An advisor is also seconded to the Director of the Mongolian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Another technical expert on civil protection is seconded at the National Disaster Management Organization (NDMO), in Vanuatu.

The fight against fires and forest fires is a growing field of cooperation. In May 2023, the DCSD, together with the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) and the Thai Forestry Department, organised an international training course in forest fire management methods. The civil protection cooperant for Singapore and ASEAN contributes to similar training courses in Indonesia, which will welcome participants from Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

In terms of transport safety, the Air Transport Force provides technical training in Madagascar and Djibouti, and a regional technical assistant for airport security and immigration has been seconded to the Comoros.

MARITIME SECURITY

France supports the strengthening of the regional maritime safety and security architecture. Three French officers actively contribute to the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) in Singapore, the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (CRFIM) in Madagascar and the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-+

IOR) in New Delhi. Two maritime safety advisors are seconded to the Philippine and Indonesian authorities.

DCSD supports the Global Ports Safety (GPS) project, which aims to meet the challenges of port infrastructure safety and sustainability in South and South-East Asia, through risk prevention and accident management. It also enabled the construction of the Fort-Dauphin semaphore in Madagascar, the first modern tool for monitoring maritime approaches along the 4800-kilometer coastline of the Big Island.

The flagship CRIMARO II project, funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France, a subsidiary of the AFD Group (see Fact sheet No.6 - Development aid and the environment), improves information exchange and analysis, as well as crisis and incident management. Initially designed to cover the Indian Ocean, it now also covers the Pacific Ocean, benefiting over thirty countries in the Indo-Pacific, from Yemen to the Cook Islands.

Complementing the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Tahiti and the Centre Opérationnel de Surveillance et de Sauvetage (COSS) in New Caledonia, the Centre régional opérationnel de surveillance et de sauvetage (CROSS) sud océan Indien, based on La Réunion, is responsible for search and rescue, navigation surveillance and pollution response missions. In 2022, it supervised the emergency towing of an ore carrier threatening to run aground, or the rescue of the crew of a sailing boat sunk in the Mozambique Channel. It also interacts with the Indian Ocean Commission's Regional Operations Coordination Centre (ROCC) based in the Seychelles.

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME

The fight against illegal fishing is one of the Navy’s missions (see Fact sheet No.4 – Military presence and defence diplomacy). It is stepping up fisheries policing operations in the EEZs and adjacent high seas of the Pacific Island States, in support of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Some of these operations, such as the Nasse operation, are carried out in coordination with Australian, New Zealand and American partners within the Pacific Quad framework.

The Office central de lutte contre les atteintes à l’environnement et à la santé publique (OCLAESP) has detachments in Papeete and Saint-Denis to combat the emerging trafficking aimed at sending waste to Madagascar and India. In addition, a French environmental crime expert was for the first time seconded to the Bangkok office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in année. OCLAESP also organises training courses in Djibouti to combat the trafficking of counterfeit medicines.