OSCE helps improve border security of Bosnia and Herzegovina

To help improve border security of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to BiH, held a training course on identifying forged travel documents for instructors at the Agency for Education and Professional Training of the BiH Ministry of Security, from 6 to 10 December 2021 in Mostar.

The course focused on the travel document manufacturing process, their security features, forgery methods, and using specialized equipment to detect forgeries. It bolstered the existing skills of Agency instructors who will then share their knowledge with BiH Border Police cadets and serving officers.

“The training course will strengthen the capacities of relevant law enforcement agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina to discover and prevent misuse of forged travel documents and decrease the number of criminals able to move across the BiH border using a fake identity. This will in turn positively impact international efforts to combat transnational threats,” said Susan Penksa, Head of the OSCE Mission’s Department of Security Cooperation.

The training course will also improve the operational awareness of border officers and help them take a human rights compliant approach to the identification of forged travel documents.

The OSCE will also donate equipment for the identification of falsified documents to the Agency for Education and Professional Training, which will be used in future training courses of cadets and border officers.