Dar es Salaam – At the request of Tanzania’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Commissioner General of Immigration services, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, through its African Capacity Building Centre (ACBC) in Moshi, this week (20/11) donated four facial matching systems to the Tanzania Immigration Services Department at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA).

The donation was received by Samuel Magweiga, the Commissioner for Border Management and Control (BMC), on behalf of the Commissioner General of Immigration. The other three systems were donated to the Kilimanjaro International Airport and the Holili Taveta One Stop Border Post (OSBP), at the land border between Tanzania and Kenya.

The donation was followed by a simulation training session for a group of 15 immigration and information technology officers conducted by IOM ACBC and IT experts who showed participants how to use the new systems.

Facial matching systems can identify fraudulent travel documents such as passport, visas, and other identity documents and detect identity fraud by travellers trying to enter or stay in the country irregularly.

The objective of these donations is to strengthen the technical capacity of the immigration officers at both land and air entry points to combat irregular migration and enhance border security. The ultimate goal is to facilitate orderly and humane migration in the country.

“We are very grateful for the donation and the technical support provided by IOM,” said Commissioner Magweiga. “However, we need more of its kind for all our land, air and maritime entry points to combat irregular migration which is becoming rampant along our borders,” he added. 

Dr. Qasim Sufi, IOM Tanzania Chief of Mission, commended the excellent working relationship between IOM and the immigration authorities in Tanzania and promised to follow up on their additional requests with potential donors in the country.

“This system is of paramount importance for an international airport like JNIA in today’s increasingly mobile, interdependent and interlinked world as it will boost its capacity to efficiently and securely manage the processing of travel documents,” said Sufi.

The facial matching systems were donated by IOM under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP I). The UNDAP brings together all the UN agencies and provides a platform for them to work and ‘deliver as one’ in Tanzania.

IOM is a member of the Refugees working group that is also working on issues related to mixed migration in the country. This includes several activities ranging from capacity building of law enforcement and other government officials on migration management issues, operationalization of One Stop Border Post (OSBP), media training and development of training materials including the review of the Tanzania Immigration Border Procedures Manual.

For more information please contact IOM Tanzania:

Nelson Goncalves, Tel: +255 688 700 090, Email: ngoncalves@iom.int

Yahya Eshall, Tel: +255 627 423117, Email: yeshall@iom.int

Gracia Anthony, Tel: +255 716 204156, Email: ganthony@iom.int