The Secretary of State for Interior, Ousman Sonko, yesterday opened a training workshop for 20 immigration officers on document Security sponsored by Transvia Airlines based in Holland.

The officers were drawn from the various immigration boarder posts across the country including the air and sea ports.

Delivering his key address at the occasion, Secretary of State Sonko said document security is a vital control mechanism against human trafficking and child labour which has seriously hit the Sub-region. He said that many human traffickers use fraudulent documents in a bid to traffick children and women in violation of their human rights.

He stated that the issue of document security is a wide area which requires total commitment, adding that the government of The Gambia under the leadership of President Jammeh is very much committed to the citizens of this country.

He said that the security services will be fully equipped with the right information.

He called on the security personnel to take the training seriously and commended Transvia Airline for sponsoring the training.

For his part, the deputy director general of The Gambia Immigration Department, Buba Sanyang, called on the officers to share the knowledge gained with their colleagues, adding that during the course of the four days embassy personnel in the country will also be trained.

Mr. Sanyang noted that this is the third time the Immigration Department is benefiting from such training.

Peter Touw, head of the National Forgery Desk, one of the trainers who is based in the Netherlands, said the training is meant to exchange information on document Security.