By Emmanuel Simpokolwe:
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services has said the use of forged or fraudulent travelling documents is a serious problem in the country, such that there is a need for officers to have special skills on how to detect them.
Commissioner responsible for Operations Fletcher Tawonga Nyirenda said this in Mponela, Dowa District, yesterday during the opening of document examination and fraud detection training for immigration officers.
“Criminals, especially those involved in transnational crimes such as human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, money laundering and even terrorists, use forged documents to enter into the county.
“Oftentimes, when we talk about illegal immigrants or irregular migration, the centre of it all is falsifying travel documents. Therefore, this training is very crucial in ending the vice,” he said.
Nyirenda said the training would help officers to detect if a person is the rightful owner of traveling documents they have.
The week-long training, which is supported by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), is meant to equip immigration officers to be able to detect fraudulent documents from within and outside the country.
IOM Chief of Mission Namagugu Ncube said they were supporting the training because they recognised and understood the important role the department plays in safeguarding the country’s security and safety.
According to Ncube, safety and security were the bedrock of sound economic growth and national stability.
“We, therefore, want to enhance the capacity of immigration officials to ensure that the person that travels is a bona fide traveler that is using their own documents for bona fide purposes of entering the country,” she said.
