Moyale - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in partnership with the Department of Immigration Services organized a follow- up training for eighteen (16 male and 2 female) Immigration Officers from 1 to 3 May 2019 in Moyale, Kenya. The training focused on document examination, fraud detection and countering human trafficking. The immigration officers trained came from Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, Moyale, Embu, Nyeri and Nairobi Counties. The training was funded by the Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme.

The training is part of ongoing efforts to build the capacity of Kenyan government officials to enhance migration management. Topics covered included production of security documents, examination of documents and equipment, irregular migration, introduction to East African e-passport including its security features, and East African Common Market Protocol, among others.

The officers were selected from the key migration routes of Moyale to Nairobi and covered by representatives from Embu and Nyeri Counties to enhance their understanding of migration issues along this migration corridor. This corridor feeds into the Southern route, which is attractive to human traffickers and migrant smugglers for their illegal actions.

“This training will improve migration management and protection of victims of trafficking in the Southern route. It is also critical since the Department of Immigration is currently in the process of issuing new e-passports which many officers are not familiar with,” said Boaz Owiro from the Training and Research Unit and representing the Senior Assistant Director of Immigration Services. The new skills gained by the officers will also ensure professional service delivery to migrants as well as management of our borders.

To date, through the BMM Programme, IOM has trained 126 immigration officials on aforementioned topics to improve migration management in Kenya. The Better Migration Management (BMM), a regional, multi-year, multi-partner programme that aims at improving migration management, and in particular to assist and protect victims of human trafficking within and from the Horn of Africa and is funded by the European Union and Germany. IOM is one of the implementing partners of the programme, alongside the British Council, CIVIPOL, Expertise France, GIZ, Italian Department of Public Security (IDoPS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

In addition to aforementioned trainings, IOM is also at the forefront of building and enhancing the capacity of Border Management Committees on coordinated border management targeting key Kenyan borders. To ensure community buy-in for improved and coordinated border, community engagement sessions for coordinated border management with border committees are being conducted through the BMM Programme to achieve a holistic approach to border management, countering human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.

To complement these efforts, the European Union is also spearheading support for cross-border areas in the Horn of Africa through a €68 million programme covering the entire length of the Kenya-Ethiopia border, incorporating south-west Somalia and also supporting the cross-border area between Western Ethiopia and East Sudan. Through investments in peace-building, socio-economic development and regional cooperation, the programme aims to transform borderlands into more prosperous and stable areas where communities have a sense of belonging and prospects for a better future.

For further information, please contact IOM Kenya at iomkenyaPI@iom.int. ©IOM 2019. All rights reserved.