OSCE trains Tajik law enforcement officers on detecting and identifying forged travel documents

DUSHANBE, 29 August 2014 – Twenty-two mid-rank and front-line officers, including four women, from Tajik law enforcement agencies working in travel documents management and security, completed a week-long OSCE training course in Dushanbe today on detecting and identifying forged documents.

During the course, officers from the Foreign and Interior Ministries, the Tajik Border Troops and the Customs Service studied the structure and nature of security features on travel documents, commonly-used falsification methods, effective detection techniques and good practices in examining travel documents.

“This training assisted Tajik border and custom agencies to strengthen their professional capacity in their day-to-day work in identifying forged and counterfeit travel documents,” said Ambassador Markus Mueller, the Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

Participants learnt about the latest trends in counterfeiting methods and how security features are added during the document manufacturing and personalization process. The training was led by border police experts from the Turkish National Police Headquarters, who also shared experiences from their own country.

The OSCE Office will provide ten document readers for identifying persons and checking documents against forgery at the new terminal of Dushanbe International Airport, which will open in September 2014.

The course was organized as part of this year’s activities by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan’s Border Management Unit.