OSCE Centre trains Kazakhstani border guards

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 5 March 2012 - A three-day OSCE-organized workshop on border management for Kazakhstani border service staff began today in Almaty.

The seminar was organized by the OSCE Centre in co-operation with the EU/UNDP Border Management Programme in Central Asia and Kazakhstan’s Border Service.

The participants will enhance their knowledge of document integrity, learn to identify imposters, and receive an opportunity to familiarize themselves with international profiling techniques. During the workshop Russian, Slovak, and Austrian experts will share information about best international practices in border management and security.

“The exchange of views and experience during the seminar will contribute to border agencies’ understanding of contemporary threats related to borders, and their capacity to respond to the challenges," said the OSCE Centre in Astana’s Mikhail Assafov. “It will help improve the capacity of Kazakhstan’s Border Service to detect forged and counterfeited documents, and through increased co-operation on travel document security will enhance the effectiveness of efforts aimed at preventing illegal migration and criminal activities.”

This week's seminar is a part of the OSCE Centre in Astana's efforts to promote the OSCE border security concept in Kazakhstan. Similar training courses were conducted last year in Aktau and Merke.