UNIPATH STAFF
Tajik and Afghan border police honed their border security skills during training hosted by the Tajikistan office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Subjects covered in three courses included detecting forged passports and travel documents, patrolling using satellite surveillance, identifying asylum seekers and combating trafficking. The courses were offered during 16 weeks and involved 65 guards.
Serving at critical border points along the Tajik-Afghan border, the graduates were part of a capacity-building effort to improve information sharing and communicate best practices.
Ambassador Markus Mueller, head of the OSCE office in Tajikistan, congratulated the graduates: “Developing the skills of Tajik and Afghan border officers should not be seen only as a means of increasing capacity and efficiency of first line officers on border crossing points, but as investment in the promotion and strengthening of cross-border cooperation between the two countries, and as an effective modern approach in combating transnational criminal activities.”
A Turkish National Police expert brought in forged documents for the group to examine and introduced equipment useful in identifying falsified records. Exercises were used to demonstrate particularly tricky situations.
“This joint OSCE-UNDP [United Nations Development Programme] initiative has the goal to keep Afghan and Tajik border officers up to date on international standards and modern methods in managing and securing borders. This builds the capacities of the border management agencies in Afghanistan and Tajikistan and supports their cooperation to counter transnational threats,” said Ilona Kazaryan, the chief of development and outreach at the OSCE Border Management Staff College.