During a visit to Haiti this week to reinforce support for the
stabilization and reconstruction of Haiti, Canadian Foreign
Minister Maxime Bernier has launched a Canadian-funded IOM
programme aimed at rehabilitating the country's National Police
School.

At the launch, held on the school grounds in Port-au-Prince and
attended by Haiti's Minister of Justice and the Special
Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Haiti,
Minister Bernier highlighted his government's support for the
professionalization of the Haitian Police Force and strengthened
capacity in border management. 

The IOM project, implemented in close cooperation with the UN
stabilization mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and funded through
Canada's Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START), will
see the complete refurbishment of the Police School, including the
students' and instructors' barracks. It is expected that the
extensive rehabilitation of the institution will allow for a
significant increase in the number of police cadets, many of whom
are to be deployed along Haiti's land border with the Dominican
Republic as part of the country's efforts to strengthen its
management of land and maritime borders.

IOM, with support from Canada-START, is involved in a variety of
initiatives seeking to build the migration management capacity of
Haitian authorities through interventions on human resources and
operational assets.  Continued support for such activities
responds to IOM's consistent focus on technical cooperation with
national authorities as a key element to Haiti's long-term
stabilization and the sustainability of such efforts. 

While the situation in Haiti is becoming increasingly stable,
migration and border control agencies continue facing significant
challenges.  Movements across the Haitian-Dominican border, in
particular, remain largely uncontrolled and informal.  Joint
efforts by IOM and Haiti's Ministry of Interior have enabled a more
effective presence of immigration officials at checkpoints, while
the international community is committed to supporting Haitian
authorities with the deployment of law enforcement authorities on
green and blue borders.

For more information please contact:

Judy Dacruz

IOM Haiti

Tel: +509 702 84 60

E-mail: "mailto:jdacruz@iom.int">jdacruz@iom.int