The Department of Customs and Inland Revenue and the Vanuatu Immigration Services are at the forefront of GoV’s improved border control structure, with both agencies jointly managing the operations in Vanuatu since November 2017.

To promote this model of modernisation in border agency cooperation in the region and enhance the sustainability of an efficient border management structure in Vanuatu, IOM is playing a lead role in building the competencies of the border officers of both agencies.

On 27 and 28 June in Port Vila, joint training sessions facilitated by IOM and VIS were conducted for some 30 officers of both agencies, on the legal and administrative frameworks governing border management in Vanuatu and on intra agency and interagency coordination and communication.    

The sessions provided the opportunity for interaction and group discussions among participants, comprising a mix of managerial and operational levels, from which concrete action points emerged to support the border control operations, such as sharing of resources to meet specific objectives in data collection and analysis and joint briefings at the airport to maximize capacities and better coordinate the control and facilitation responsibilities of both agencies.