Haiti's newly appointed Prime Minister, Michelle Pierre-Louis,
yesterday attended the dedication ceremony marking the completion
of IOM's rehabilitation of the country's national police academy.

The school has undergone major refurbishment as well as
construction of new training premises as part of Haiti's National
Police Reform Agenda, which was endorsed by the UN Security Council
in 2006, and aims at reinforcing the country's law enforcement
capacity.

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),
included the refurbishment of the student and instructors'
barracks, living quarters, dining and laundry facilities. 

The extensive rehabilitation of the institution will enable 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, in support of efforts to increase the country's ability
to secure its land and maritime borders, as well as law enforcement
in relation to human trafficking. 

IOM, with support from Canada-START, is involved in a variety of
initiatives seeking to build 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. 

Migration and border control agencies in Haiti face 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