OSCE trains border guards in North Macedonia on detecting forged travel documents

A five-day training course aimed at increasing the operational awareness of border guards in detecting forged documents, took place from 14 to 20 September, 2019 in Skopje, North Macedonia.

The training, organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia, was held at the Police Training Centre in Idrizovo, Skopje.

The course was conducted by document experts from the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior and brought together 20 first-line officers deployed at different border crossing points, including Skopje International Airport.

Participants examined security features of travel documents, printing techniques and security substrates. Practical exercises focused on the differences between genuine and forged documents, as well as on the effective use of equipment such as magnifying lenses. Twenty high quality magnifying lenses were donated to the participants by the OSCE.

This course will be followed by an advanced training in October and a train-the-trainers course in November. These courses form part of a series of trainings on the detection of forged travel documents organized by the OSCE Border Security and Management Unit in different countries since 2015.