Ukraine Border Guards join “Train-the-Trainers” programme to detect fake documents

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE’s Transnational Threat Department, organized a course from 4 to 8 August to improve the border security of Ukraine amid the Ukraine war. The course is aimed at equipping border guards with the ability to detect fake documents. This is to strengthen more than 100 border crossing points in the south and west of the Ukrainian border.

In 2023, Ukraine’s border guards found almost 3,300 forged documents at various checkpoints. These increasing numbers of forged documents and their sophistication over time have made it essential to tighten border security risks.

The fraud threats are rising and deceiving even the most advanced designs of security documents, which pose risks to human checks. Stephen Chapman, a former representative of His Majesty’s Passport Office, is a travel document security specialist from the UK. He shared his experience and highlighted some of the past failures of manual inspection of security documents.

Stephan Chapman said, “Staff engagement is an important element to consider when the security of the documents they (border guards) are responsible for issuing and checking is so much stronger than ever before.”

He stressed the need to reduce fraud by maintaining tight control over the creation and issuance process of documents. As criminals develop more advanced methods to forge documents, there is an urgent need to train more qualified instructors who can guide and oversee border staff at local checkpoints. These trainers will help ensure personnel can use both traditional inspection skills and modern technology effectively.

This program, funded by the United States, covers basic as well as the most advanced techniques to detect fraudulent documents. Ten border guards took part in the course. They were trained by two experts from the SBGS Main Forensic Center. These experts had completed an OSCE-led train-the-trainers programme in August 2024, making an unending chain of training to strengthen the border security.

As per the OSCE’s official website, six participants who have finished this course will join a pilot project on Aug. 11–12. In this project, they will act as trainers and teach their fellow border guards in a real border crossing environment. OSCE experts will guide and mentor them as they plan and deliver the sessions.