OSCE trains border guards on document security in Kazakhstan

ALMATY. KAZINFORM - A five-day OSCE-supported training seminar for Kazakhstan's Border Guards on document integrity and advanced methods to detect document forgery as well as potential impostors began today in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Kazinform has learnt from the website of OSCE.

The event is being organized for some 20 Border Guards from across the country by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in co-operation with the Border Guard Service under the National Security Committee. The curriculum was initially developed by the Action against Terrorism

Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and tailored to Kazakhstan's identified priorities.
Experts from Austria and Kazakhstan will share best practices in international document security, including the identification of falsified travel documents, document control, the use of paper and polymer substrates in document security, conventional printing techniques, photo protection, secondary verification, profiling and psychological techniques to identify potential criminals during the border crossing check-up procedure. Participants will also be provided with training material developed by the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Interior on increasing operational awareness to detect forged documents.

"The ability to confirm a person's identification is a key instrument to preventing unauthorized entry into your country. Doing so requires a thorough understanding of how other countries produce and verify their documents and it is through sharing these practices that countries can best co-operate," said Colin McCullough, Political Officer at the OSCE Programme Office in Astana.

Col. Marat Magzhanov, Head of the Directory of Border Control at the Border Service of the National Security Committee said: "The importance of joint international co-operation in this area cannot be understated due to the increase in global threats associated with illegal migration, manifestations of violent extremism and terrorism, all of which have a transnational character. The aforementioned require a consolidation and cohesion of the relevant authorizes of all governments. As such, today we continue our co-operation between the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and the Border Service of Kazakhstan under the National Security Committee."

The seminar is part of the Office's long-standing efforts to promote the OSCE border security concept in Kazakhstan.