OSCE trains Afghan border police on detecting forged documents

DUSHANBE, 27 September 2010 - A two-week training course for 20 Afghan border police officials to increase operational awareness to detect forged documents and use Interpol databases started today at the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) in Dushanbe.

The training course is organized by the OSCE Action against Terrorism Unit in co-operation with the Vienna-based OSCE borders team and the BMSC. 

The course, which combines theory, studies of practical examples, capstone reviews and interactive discussions, is designed to provide participants with the necessary skills to detect forged documents. Under the instruction of two trainers from the Austrian Interior Ministry and an expert from Interpol, the participants from the Afghan Interior Ministry's border police will learn about passport production, paper security features, photo security production, databases at border control, letterpress printing, printing safeguards and document personalization, as well as document forgery methods and means of identifying them.

"The OSCE Border Management Staff College is committed to supporting Afghanistan in its training needs, and this is the second ad-hoc course for Afghan participants this year. Several further training events are planned, notably in co-operation with the Austrian Ministry of Finance to support Afghan customs officials," said Alain Scolan, the Principal of the OSCE Border Management Staff College.

"Developing border control capacities to efficiently detect forged documents is an important tool to counter threats related to terrorism, trafficking and organized crime. In almost every criminal area, false travel documents are a principal means for criminals to ply their trade," said Sandra Rosenthaler, a trainer on detecting forged documents with the Austrian Interior Ministry.

At the conclusion of the course, the OSCE will donate document examination kits to the participants containing technical aids to identify forged documents.

Course participants will later teach courses on the topic to their peers in Afghanistan. This is the fifteenth training on detecting forged documents in the OSCE area organized by the OSCE.