Bamako – With the support of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Mali, the Mali Border Police Directorate conducted a capacity-building workshop for 53 police commissioners on integrated border management and cross-border cooperation in Bamako from 25 to 27 July 2023.

The three-day workshop focused on integrated border management, the free movement of people and goods, control of migration flows, management of humanitarian crises at borders, and cross-border cooperation. Issues relating to migrant smuggling and the use of Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) were also discussed.

“This workshop is of the utmost importance, as it concerns training of human resources, the quality of which is key to the success of any human endeavour,” declared the Controller General of the Police, Youssouf KONE, Deputy Director General of the National Police of Mali, at the opening of the workshop. He then invited the participants to make strong recommendations to enable better ownership of integrated border management and cross-border cooperation.

Bob QUENUM, IOM Public Information Officer in Mali, also highlighted the strategic importance of this capacity-building session. “This training, organized with the support of the IOM, is a contribution to achieving objective 11 of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which calls for integrated, secure and coordinated border management,” he said.

At the end of the meeting, the participants made a number of recommendations, including a call to extend the use of the MIDAS system in more border posts in Mali. Developed in 2009 by the IOM, this Migration Information and Data Analysis System enables to collect, process, store, and analyse information on travellers in real time. It gives governments an overview of the people entering and leaving their territory, providing a reliable statistical basis for migration policies.

This training for commissioners follows on from the capacity-building sessions for regional border police directors on the same subject, held from 9 to 11 January 2023. The two sessions were organized with the support of IOM, as part of the project “Improving border management and community resilience to cross-border organized crime in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, with a focus on the central Mediterranean route”, supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

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For more information, please contact:

the Public Information Unit of IOM Mali. Tel.: +223 90 50 00 06.