DUSHANBE (Press release) – A three-day OSCE workshop on the detection and identification of forged documents for Border Troops and Customs Services from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan concluded in Dushanbe today.

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan border troops take part in an OSCE workshop on the detection and identification of forged documents, Dushanbe, 18 May 2012.
(Credit: OSCE/Munira Shoinbekova)
The combination of multiple high-security features, biometrics, and well-trained document inspectors with technical assistance can be very effective at preventing forged documents from being easily produced. Instead of acquiring the expensive specialised equipment needed to make fake documents, it may be more economical to produce a “genuine fake”; a legitimate document, but one which contains false information. One way of doing this is to present the document issuing authority with false credentials, which they will then endorse by issuing a new document. In this way, false identities and credentials can be “bootstrapped” over a period of time. Another simpler way of generating false credentials is to suborn one of the officials involved in the document issuing process through bribery or intimidation. This may also be combined with the bootstrapping process mentioned above to mount complex attacks.

Mid-rank and front-line officers from Tajikistan’s Border Troops and Customs Service, and Kyrgyzstan’s Border Troops and State Customs Service, who are involved in travel document management and security, took part in the workshop, which was organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

Alastair Livingston, Head of the Political Military Department at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan said

This workshop continues the series of seminars, which have been previously organized twice in Dushanbe for border agencies in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and most recently in February 2011, for border troops from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The workshop was an example of practical assistance that OSCE field operations can provide in strengthening regional co-operation in Central Asia.

Erdal Duzdaban, Border Management Officer at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan added:

This workshop assisted the border and customs agencies in strengthening their professional capacity in their day-to-day work in the identification of forged and counterfeit travel documents.

During the workshop, participants studied the structure and nature of document control, the security features of travel documents, commonly used falsification methods, forged document detection techniques, and the examination of travel documents. An experienced border police expert from Turkish National Police Headquarters led the workshop and shared Turkey’s experiences in the detection and identification of forged travel documents.