Border crossings and corruption
This past week Ekathimerini.com reminded us that border crossings are still the favorite area of corrupt officials as “38 officers were arrested in a probe by the Edirne Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into graft at the Kapikule border gate on the Turkey-Bulgaria frontier.” This border is known to be one of the busiest borders in Europe.
What should be done to try to minimize corruption at borders? As anyone who has worked in these areas, the problem is that no matter how customs officials behave, people still will have face to face encounters with individuals who may be bringing large quantities of goods, both legal and illegal goods. The costs involved in these transactions can be very high, which means that significant money is at stake. Governments understand this and policing custom activities is one of the more challenging areas. And to make things even more complicated, there is little legal uniformity between countries at the borders. This means that there is a significant amount of room for interpretation and confusion. What can and should be done, is to create more digital solutions, clearer regulations, and clear mechanisms to allow for complaints and whistleblowing, which takes time and commitment by governments. It looks like Turkey is thinking about it through enforcement, but this still begs the question, why now. All we can say presently that this is a start and will allow for greater oversight and changes.
Link: