Sudan - This week 20 senior officers from the Sudanese General Directorate of Passports and Immigration completed a five-day advanced course in border management concepts and techniques.

Participants were briefed on regional and global migration trends; the Sudanese legal framework; international migration law; trafficking and smuggling; the threats posed by cross border crime and terrorism and electronic border management systems.

Funded by the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development, the course provided an opportunity for participants to exchange knowledge and to deepen their understanding of the key role played by border management in supporting effective migration governance.

Participants learned about key approaches to border management, including passenger profiling, risk management and integrated border management. The course also covered the importance of data collection and analysis in speeding up the process for bona fide travellers, whilst identifying those requiring further investigation.

IOM Sudan Chief of Mission Mario Lito Malanca said: “Following adoption of the Khartoum Process and the subsequent Valetta Conference, this is the first of a series of training courses we are delivering for the Sudanese Ministry of Interior. IOM is delighted to be working with our government counterparts to support the development of Sudan’s migration management capacity.”

Colonel Mohammed Mohammed Abd Elwahid Saeed, Director of the Immigration Training Centre, thanked IOM and Italian Cooperation for the initiative. “The Immigration Training Centre is pleased to work with IOM to deliver activities that ensure the implementation of Sudanese laws on migration to combat human trafficking, smuggling and related crimes, and to keep good relations between countries,” he said.

For further information, please contact Andrew Gray at IOM Sudan, Tel: + 249-9224-06619, Email: ajgray@iom.int