US gives Mozambique technology to detect fake passports

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

US gives Mozambique technology to detect fake passports

11:45 CAT | 10 Jul 2017

Courtesy of the US Embassy in Maputo / IOM official demonstrates to Cief of Mission in Mozambique Katharina Schnöring, the operation of an ultra-violet tool to be used by border guards to verify the authenticity of travel documents. under the watch of Forest Atkinson, Acting Counsellor for Political and Economic Affairs at the US Embassy, and the Director General of SENAMI, Arsénia Massingue.

The Mozambican authorities are strengthening the management of border control in the south of the country with the help of a United States-backed program in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The US Embassy in Mozambique has offered the Mozambican National Immigration Service (SENAMI) equipment for the verification of travel documents at border control posts.

The United States has given Mozambique 56 machines to identify counterfeit documents. The donation, valued at $500,000 took place last Friday in Maputo, and was witnessed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a partner of the Ministry of the Interior.

The equipment will strengthen the fight against counterfeit documents, prevent the movement of illegal immigrants and improve the ability to manage national borders, and includes ultraviolet lights and lenses that allow the detection of contents that are not visible to the naked eye in the documents.

“The donation includes training, because it is very important that border guards are able to handle the material in order to detect irregularities,” the IOM representative in Mozambique, Katharina Schnöring, said.

The IOM intends extending its partnership with the government over many years.

The equipment is just one element of the programme funded by the United States and implemented by the IOM.

“The overall project includes a comprehensive assessment of capabilities and needs in border management and the development of standard operating procedures to improve communication and cooperation in border management and provision of training and equipment,” a US Embassy report on the project reveals.

The programme will strengthen Mozambique’s ability to protect its national borders and combat transnational organised crime.

“As the Mozambican economy grows and becomes more interconnected in the region and in the world, the flow of people and goods inside and outside the country also increases. This project will help ensure Mozambique’s ability to control its borders, to maximise the benefits of this growing interconnection while fighting illicit flows of people and property,” the release adds.

The project is held up as an example of the United States’ comprehensive partnership with the Mozambican government, often working with other partners such as the IOM to support economic prosperity, combat transnational criminal threats and strengthen governmental and democratic institutions, the paper concludes.

Source: O País / Rádio Moçambique