Lesotho – In partnership with the Southern Africa Immigration Liaison (SAIL) officers based in Pretoria, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) held a three-day training for immigration officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, police officers and customs officials. The training sought to improve knowledge on identifying genuine and fraudulent travel documents and in identifying imposters at Ports of Entry. A total of 53 officers – 28 immigration officers, 19 police officers and 6 customs officers from all the Port of Entries in Lesotho – attended the training.

Delivering the opening remarks on behalf of the Principal Secretary Ministry of Home Affairs, Mant’sebo Motsoanakaba, Immigration Director, thanked IOM for supporting this training and indicated that “the Ministry of Home Affairs is moving towards integrated Border Management Approach whereby Police and Customs will also be performing immigration duties."

The training offered participants an opportunity to update themselves with relevant technical tools against fraudulent identification.

“As an immigration officer, I appreciated the introduction of ICT tools to improve my knowledge in examining different passports from all countries. It will be easier to know the difference between an original and fake passport," said Masheane Mpopo, an immigration officer from Maputsoe. 

“This training has been useful and an eye opener because I did not know anything about identifying possible fraud regarding counterfeit money as this was part of the training. We are going to work differently, this training is going to assist me in taking time to examine documents," explained Mmampa Rakotje, a customs official from Maseru.

The gathering was also an opportunity to highlight the cross-cutting benefits of managing migration from ports of entry. “The training comes at a time when the world is concerned about irregular migration. This passport issue is critical and we need to protect our borders and travel documents and ensure we boost donor and investor confidence in Lesotho for it will be seen as safe and able to manage its borders,’’ said Sgt. Ret’selisitsoe Maoela, a police officer from Butha-Buthe.

These trainings were made possible through the generous support of the Government of Japan and its people through the project called "Counter Trafficking and Addressing Irregular Migration through Strengthening Border and Migration Management, Sensitization on TIP and Building Capacity of Law Enforcement and Border Officials in Lesotho."

For more information, please contact contact IOM Lesotho, Email: enishimura@iom.int, Tel: +266 68891296.