Information Sharing to Counter Foreign Terrorist Fighters

Department of State To Host Ministerial on Information Sharing to Counter Foreign Terrorist Fighters

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 13, 2015

On February 18, on the margins of the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), the Department of State will host – in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security – a Ministerial-level event focused on improving the use and sharing of information to counter the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs).

The event will bring together a small group of key governments and multilateral institutions to advance regional and international information-sharing and collaboration on FTF-related issues. Participants will review progress toward implementing UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2178 of September 2014, which calls for efforts “to intensify and accelerate the exchange of operational information regarding actions or movements of terrorist or terrorist networks, including foreign terrorist fighters.” Ministers will focus specifically on FTFs who are radicalized in their homeland and seek to travel to other conflict zones, especially Syria and Iraq.

A range of governments and multilateral institutions will discuss their efforts to strengthen information-sharing and border security in their respective regions, lessons learned, ongoing challenges, requirements for international assistance, and potential next steps. The event will highlight the ongoing efforts of the new Global Counterterrorism Forum Foreign Fighter Working Group.

In conjunction with the White House CVE Summit, this Ministerial-level event will assess progress in implementing the actions called for in UNSCR 2178, with the aim of determining how we can best strengthen information sharing on foreign terrorist fighters over the next seven months.

ENDS

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