IMOBEX Events
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IMOBEX experts discussed challenges of mobile banditry and possible solutions during a two-day workshop
6-7 July 2022, Utrecht, The Netherlands
An important part of the IMOBEX-project is to develop intervention strategies as well as actions to overcome gaps in the legal and practical infrastructure to combat mobile banditry at the intersection of criminal exploitation. These were discussed in-depth during a two-day workshop hosted by Utrecht University on 6-7 July 2022.
The meeting was attended by 20 participants coming from a selection of member states and European third countries. These included representatives of law enforcement agencies and NGOs from Germany, Lithuania, Romania, the Netherlands and Serbia, as well as representatives of the IMOBEX-consortium. Participants’ presented challenges from the perspective of law enforcement, cross-border and multi-agency cooperation, legal definitions of criminal exploitation, and victim support.
Overcoming these challenges requires actions at different levels. Examples are raising awareness that Organised Mobile Crime Groups (MOCGs) inflict substantial damage in both countries of origin and destination, and adequate resources should be allocated to disrupt their activities. Tackling the problem requires close multi-agency cooperation between public partners as well as with private partners, which is currently highly difficult because of GDPR requirements.
The EU should therefore in the short term take action to create such a legal basis for information exchange and promote the role of Europol to enable swift exchange of data. From a long-term perspective, the root-causes of mobile banditry should be addressed. On the one hand, this concerns the persistent large economic inequalities within the EU, that contributes to opportunity structures for MOCGs and targeting of vulnerable victims, and on the other hand the existence of isolated and impoverished communities, Roma in particular, which present risk factors. Deliverables 3.1 and 3.2 present the results of this part of the project.
The IMOBEX field lab finalised construction of a European Barrier Model on mobile banditry during meeting in Bucharest
22-23 May 2023, Bucharest
During the final part of the IMOBEX-project, a European barrier-model was constructed which addresses mobile banditry, including the aspect of criminal exploitation. Barrier-models depart from crime-scripts in which the different activities necessary to successfully commit one or more specific crimes are described. The barrier-model identifies the criminal actors and facilitators involved in different steps of the script, which partners may contribute to disrupting the criminal activity, and finally which barriers or interventions they could initiate. In total, 24 experts from six different countries participated in three 2-day physical meetings and two online sessions.
Participants included public prosecutors, police officers, representatives of NGOs and members of the IMOBEX consortium. The final session was hosted by SELEC in Bucharest on 22 and 23 May 2023. A barrier-model should foremost be viewed as a source of inspiration, to enable developing and experimenting with innovative interventions tailored to national and sometimes even local possibilities. Deliverable 4.1 reports the results of the field lab and presents the European barrier-model.
