On 5 – 7 September, UNODC conducted a training course on the verification of the authenticity of travel documents of persons crossing the state border for twenty officers from the State Border Service, State Customs Service, State Migration Service and Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan working at the air, road and rail border crossing points of the country.
The training was delivered by Mr. Rainer Steckowski, an international expert with extensive experience in the examination of travel documents from the Federal Republic of Germany.
The training aimed to enhance the knowledge and skills of the officers to effectively respond to challenges during an inspection of documents at checkpoints and strengthen their capacity to combat cross-border crime. The training provided both theoretical and practical sessions.
During the training, the participants learned about the features of counterfeit documents, different printing techniques, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, interview techniques to identify victims of human trafficking, and about how to identify imposters who may use genuine documents, among others.
In the course of the practical sessions, the participants strengthened their skills in the use of magnifiers and ultraviolet light to examine travel documents.
Upon completion of the training, the participants were awarded certificates.
At the closure of the training, Mr. Oraz Jumamyradov, the Head of the Passport Personalization Unit of the Passport Department of the Central Office of the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan, extended his gratitude to Mr. Rainer Steckovski for sharing his knowledge and skills in documents verification as well as UNODC for its efforts in strengthening the capacity of the law enforcement agencies of Turkmenistan. He expressed hope that such collaboration would further expand.
This training was part of the broader initiative under which similar courses were conducted in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on 25 May - 10 June 2022[1]. These events significantly contributed to the UNODC’s regional endeavor to ensure necessary law enforcement capacity is in place for effective border control.
The training was organized under the UNODC regional project on Enhancing Capacity of Border Crossing Points and Improving Regional Cross-Border Cooperation by Promoting Border Liaison Offices’ (BLOs) Concept and Development of Information and Communication Networks for Border Agencies of Sub-programme 1 “Countering transnational organized crime, illicit drug trafficking and preventing terrorism” of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia 2022-2025.
The implementation of a national initiative under the project in Turkmenistan is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
For further information, please contact:
Nurangez Abdulhamidova
Communication and External Relations Officer
UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia
Email: nurangez.abdulhamidova[at]un.org
