IOM, in cooperation with the Dominican Republic's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and Police, and the
Directorate of Migration, is today starting a series of training
sessions aimed at strengthening government officials' and law
enforcement agencies' capacity to inspect and detect fraudulent
travel documents and visas.

The Dominican Republic is at the crossroads of international
migration routes in the Caribbean, where many regional and
extra-regional migrants converge either as a final destination or
as a transit point en route to North America and Europe.

In a region where national economies depend on the brisk
movement of tourism and trade, the Dominican Republic, with 19
ports of entry (air, land and sea) and a thriving tourism industry,
is committed to facilitating legitimate leisure and business travel
while safeguarding national and regional security.

Mrs. Rosario Graciano, Vice Minister for Migration Issues and
Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explains the
need for such training:  "Our open door policy towards
tourists and other travellers visiting our country or wanting to
establish residence, must coexist with control mechanisms that will
detect other foreigners coming to our country with the less
honourable intentions of committing crimes."

The manual and other training materials developed by IOM for the
Dominican Republic focus on travel and identity document
examination, detection of altered documents, handling and securing
evidence, and detection of impostors. This week's sessions, funded
by the US State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
(DOS/WHA), will enable the government to conduct future capacity
building trainings on these issues itself.

For more information, please contact:

Nidia Casati

IOM Santo Domingo

Tel: + 1 809 482 1030

E-mail: "mailto:ncasati@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">ncasati@iom.int