IOM, UNHCR Train Tunisian Police, National Guard in "Protection-Sensitive" Border Management

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 10, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- A team of IOM and UNHCR experts have completed a two-week training in “protection sensitive border management” for Tunisian Police and National Guards in Tunis.

The course is in the framework of a 10–month project: “Capacity Building for a Tunisian Protection -Sensitive Approach to Border Management” funded by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

The programme, developed and delivered by IOM and UNHCR, aims to build the capacities of Tunisian border officials to address mixed movements and will ultimately create a pool of trainers qualified to train other officers nation-wide.

During the Tunis training, participants were taught how to identify victims of human trafficking and smuggling, as well as other vulnerable groups including unaccompanied minors and refugees.

They were also familiarized with state-of-the-art passport examination procedures, including the use of magnifiers, ultra-violet and infra-red lamps.

Project managers hope that the initiative will also help Tunisia to fill legislative and institutional gaps, while building on the significant steps that the country has taken to put in place an asylum law and referral mechanism providing better international protection of refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants.

Tunisian Minister of the Interior Ben Jeddou awarded certificates to the participants at a ceremony at the Ministry of Interior in Tunis.