Fighting illegal immigration, drug trafficking, tax evasion and criminality in general are indeed some of the most pressing challenges that governments all over the world face, and Seychelles is no exception.
To equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to combat such illicit practices, 20 young Seychellois from various departments such as Customs, the National Drugs Enforcement Agency (NDEA), the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), the Police Force among others will undertake a training course that will be held in the Italian Guadia di Finanza in the city of Orvieto from September 4-22, 2017.
The training is fully funded by the Italian government in support of the sub-Saharan African countries.
The 20 officers received their tickets in a small ceremony held at the Kreolor Shop, Eden Plaza in the presence of the honorary consul of the Italian Republic to Seychelles, Claudio Izzi, Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, the Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque, Ambassador Barry Faure, among other guests.
The course will include self-defence, police operational shooting in critical situations, border police operational activity, international movement of persons and transport of goods and services.
Besides the daily sessions at the Academy, there will be outdoor exercises at the Dog Training Unit in the nearby Perugia, at the International Airport of Rome Fiumicino and the Harbour of Civitavecchia.
Mr Izzi stated that the training will provide the local officers with a much better package to combat drug trafficking among other issues in Seychelles.
“In order to help deliver the best possible service to the Seychelles population, the Italian Guardia di Finanza is holding the training course at their academy. The wide range of experience coming from over two hundred years of operations of our Guardia di Finanza will be at the disposal of the Seychellois officers attending the course. Seychelles has been selected because of its important strategic position in the Indian Ocean, its willingness to fight hard against the illegal trading taking place around its territory and last but not least because of the strong bilateral collaboration between our countries dating back many years,” Mr Izzi said.
Ambassador Faure was pleased with the opportunity offered by the Italian authorities and is committed to giving to the course the widest visibility.
“Such course will benefit our officers to gain more knowledge about their important task. It is vital to get the right training to combat issues such as drugs among others. Such experience will allow us to gain knowledge from other countries with much more resources,” he said.
One of the officers from the Customs Division pointed out that the course will allow him to gain more data on how to prevent illicit drugs from entering the country.
“I have been working at SRC for the past four years, and I have gained a lot of knowledge. With this training I will be able to update myself and gain more information how to tackle such problem. At the end I will be able to share what I will learn with my colleagues,” he said.
The Ministry of Foreign and International Cooperation of Italy is very pleased to invest in the training, offering air tickets, full board accommodation, logistic, uniforms and equipment to our young Seychellois.
