Burkina Faso - The United Nations Agency for Migration (IOM) remains committed to working alongside the authorities of Burkina Faso to improve border and cross-border migration management.

With financial support from the US Department of State, IOM has provided the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralisation and Security with a set of migration management equipment for the Border Police Directorate.

The equipment, including two hard top vehicles, each fitted with two mobile Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) kits, was officially handed over to the Deputy Director General of the National Police, in the presence of IOM Chief of Mission in Burkina Faso, representatives of the US Embassy in Burkina Faso and the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralisation and Security.

This fully mobile solution, which is due to be deployed in the South-West and Cascades Regions, is intended to strengthen the Border Police’s operational capacities in a bid to improve migration data control at remote and vulnerable border areas, namely Nako and Léraba. The Deputy Director General of the National Police, Thierry Dofizouho TUINA, welcomed the new equipment made available to the Border Police, while thanking IOM and the US Embassy for this important acquisition.

Receiving the equipment, Inspector General of Police Thierry D. TUINA said: “This will strengthen the National Police mobility capabilities. These vehicles will enable us to provide much greater security at the borders. In addition to the vehicles, there is computer equipment that will enable us to read official identity documents, such as passports, in real time, and check the authenticity of documents presented at the borders.”

Providing the border police with vehicles and mobile IT equipment is part of the project entitled “Building capacity of the Government of Burkina Faso to manage its borders securely through the collection, storage and analysis of traveller information at major airports” (Accroître la capacité du gouvernement du Burkina Faso à gérer ses frontières en toute sécurité grâce à la collecte, au stockage et à l’analyse des informations sur les voyageurs dans les principaux aéroports). This project, funded by the US Department of State, is implemented by IOM.

“IOM is part of the United Nations system, and we have a cooperation plan with the Government of Burkina Faso. This cooperation plan is entitled UNIDAP (United Nations Interim Action Plan for Sustainable Development). The project is therefore exactly in line with the Government’s and UNIDAP’s priorities,” said Aïssatou GUISSE KASPAR, IOM Chief of Mission in Burkina Faso.

The project has been implemented since September 2021 with the aim of improving border security in Burkina Faso by strengthening the border police’s operational capacity using the MIDAS system. This system for collecting, storing and analysing information on migration data is a major innovation in border and migration flow management in Burkina Faso, an innovation made possible by the positive partnership and cooperation between IOM and the Government of Burkina Faso.

For more information on this project, please contact Mrs Idelki FAMILIA (email: ifamilia@iom.int), Immigration and Border Governance Programme Coordinator at IOM Burkina Faso.

***

For more information on this project, please contact :

Idelki FAMILIA (email: ifamilia@iom.int), Immigration and Border Governance Programme Coordinator at IOM Burkina Faso.