Supporting the establishment of the Pacific Fusion Centre

Pacific Fusion Centre Workshop at Forum Secretariat. Image uploaded by John Freakes via Twitter[1]. 

The Boe Declaration on Regional Security endorsed by Forum Leaders in 2018 expanded the traditional Pacific security architecture introduced in the 1992 Honiara Declaration beyond transnational crime to also include cyber security, environmental security, and human security.

A key activity endorsed by Forum Leaders to support the Boe Declaration was the development of a Pacific Fusion Centre (PFC) to collect and analyse information from multiple sources to better inform responses to priority security threats such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking, irregular migration and other transnational crimes.

Coordinated by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT), the PFC looks to:

• fuse open and unclassified security information;
• build and supplement capacity for analysis and situational awareness, including in the maritime domain;
• provide additional analytical capacity to national and regional security organisations; and
• support national and regional security agencies to work across silos and share information.

To support these activities the PIDC Secretariat has:

1. coordinated regional discussions identifying immigration priorities amongst its membership;
2. contributed to the PFC Reference Group to support the establishment and future directions of the PFC;
3. coordinated a meeting of regional law enforcement agencies (OCO, PICP, PTCN and PIFS) at the PIDC Offices to assist PFC in mapping out existing information and intelligence products available to Pacific Island Countries and Territories;
4. continued to engage with the PFC staff regarding the development and evolution of its products and services; and
5. continued to disseminate PFC products to Members for their information.