To complement the Government of The Bahamas' e-Passport, Visa,
e-Identification and Border Control initiative, designed to
efficiently manage entry and exit of passenger flows, IOM is
hosting a series of workshops for law enforcement officials.

Officers from The Bahamas Immigration Department, the Royal
Bahamas Police Force, Bahamas Customs and the Royal Bahamas Defense
Force will gather today for the first of several training sessions
taking place in Nassau, where IOM technical experts will be
discussing ways to facilitate legitimate travel while developing
the required expertise to identify and deter potential security
risks, which might threaten national and regional security.

Nidia Casati, IOM Chief of Mission in the Dominican Republic,
explains the importance of the workshops: "Over the last decades,
the notion of security and the nature of security threats have
broadened as challenges to both have become more complex. The
current international climate and the increasing threat and
mobility of international terrorism, has put state security
concerns at the forefront of the discussion on the international
movement of persons. With national economies depending on the brisk
movement of tourism and trade, states need to ensure that their
border security will not be compromised while facilitating
legitimate travel."

The sessions, basic and advanced (training of trainers) will
focus on travel and identity document examination, detection of
fraudulent documents, handling and securing evidence and detection
of impostors, among other related topics.

The trainers will share their knowledge and expertise and
provide training to enhance the participants' ability to detect and
prevent the use of fraudulent and counterfeit travel documents and
strengthen overall security while facilitating legitimate transit
and travel throughout the region.

The Bahamas, an archipelagic nation with a total land mass of
5,400 square miles spread out over an area of 100,000 square miles
of ocean, faces a daunting challenge with respect to managing
migration and securing its borders.

The training sessions will be conducted by IOM experts on travel
document fraud in collaboration with the US Department of Homeland
Security/Customs and Border Protection (DHS/CBP). This IOM project
is funded by the US State Department Bureau of Western Hemisphere
Affairs (WHA).

For more information, please contact:

Niurka Piñeiro

IOM Washington

Tel: 1.202.862.1826 ext. 225

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