Travel Documents Training for the Immigration Officers

13 April 2015, Lahore - As part of UNODC's ongoing assistance programme in Pakistan the Country Office in collaboration with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) of Australia organized training on travel documents to enhance the skills and knowledge of front line immigration officers from Multan, Sialkot and Lahore airports.

In recent years the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has reported an increase in migrant smuggling attempts from Pakistan in which smugglers are facilitating the intended migrants by providing altered and forged travel documents including passports, resident cards and visas of various countries. In 2014 the deportation rate on forged documents increased by 43.5% in comparison to the previous year. 

For the first time Airline Liaison Officers (ALOs) from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Hungary and South Africa came under one roof to train immigration officers on the security features of various travel documents.

The training would enhance the practical knowledge and skills of immigration officers to actively identify forged and fraudulently obtained documents including imposters in addition to printing techniques used by facilitators in the process of migrant smuggling.

In his brief remarks, Dr. Usman Anwar, Director FIA Punjab highlighted upon the importance of the travel documents training and appreciated the ongoing technical assistance the UNODC Office in providing to the law enforcement agencies in combating human trafficking and migrant smuggling from Pakistan.