US seeks MRP quality guarantee
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KATHMANDU, DEC 23 - Spurred by reports of misuse of Nepali passports, the US Embassy in Kathmandu has cautioned the government that the passports could get into the hands of terrorists.
The embassy's Political and Economic Officer Dustin Degrande and Security Specialist Chris P. Whitcraft visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( MoFA) on Thursday and discussed the security features of Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) with senior officials of the Central Passport Office ( CPO).
“We described the security features of the MRPs and measures to be taken to ensure security concerns,” a CPO official said. “We explained that documents will be thoroughly verified while issuing passports. For this, a separate cell of Nepal Police's forensic unit has been established at MoFA.”
CPO officials told the US embassy officials that earlier there were loopholes for criminals to forge manual passports. “Now, the security features of MRPs are unique and hard to copy,” the official said.
MoFA has already forwarded specimens of MRPs to all foreign missions in Kathmandu, its missions abroad and to the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO). Recently, 34 Indians and Bangladeshis were arrested in Kuwait for holding fake Nepali passports.
Posted on: 2010-12-23 08:53
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