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IOM Today

An intergovernmental organization established in 1951, IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.

  • 146 Members and 98 observers
  • More than 450 field locations
  • More than 7,800 staff working on more than 2,700 projects
  • More than US$ 1.3 billion expenditures in 2011

Immigration and
Border Management

Intro

In the last two decades, in the wake of globalization, movements of people and goods have tremendously increased, calling for the adaptation of immigration and border management structures to better and more efficiently manage people flows and trade. As a consequence, States have been and still are confronted with a common challenge: facilitate movement of legitimate people and goods while maintaining secure borders. In other words, ensure the right balance between open, but at the same time controlled borders.

Border agencies - usually customs, border police and immigration services - are the ones responsible for the processing of people and goods at points of entry and exit, as well as for the detection and regulation of people and goods attempting to cross borders illegally. Efficient border and immigration management policies and structures, supported by professional and well trained immigration and border officers, foster smooth movement management at borders and prevent irregular migration, but also enable to detect smuggled migrants and trafficked persons with the ultimate objective of dismantling organized crime networks and protecting the rights of these vulnerable persons.

Conscious of the implications of inefficient border management, governments and donors are taking up the challenge and investing more and more in border management reform.

IOM's approach

As the leading organization for migration, IOM is committed to provide assistance to migrants and governments along the entire spectrum of migration, and is convinced of the necessity to support governments' efforts to enable orderly and humane movements. The organization is increasingly called upon by States to assist governments in meeting their migration's operational challenges. The Immigration and Border Management (IBM) Team, consisting of a core group of specialists with substantial technical expertise and strong border management experience, posted to strategic locations in the field as well as in IOM headquarters, has thus been established to offer guidance and expertise to governments aspiring to improve their migration and border management and operational procedures.

IOM's vision

In support of IOM strategy, IBM activities are directed at helping governments create policy, legislation, administrative structures, operational systems and the human resource base necessary to respond effectively to diverse migration and border challenges and to institute appropriate migration governance. Such activities are designed as partnerships, with the requesting government and other relevant interlocutors working closely with the IBM Team to identify needs, determine priority areas, and shape and deliver interventions.

Current priorities include:

  • supporting States to enhance their border and migration management structures and procedures;
  • reducing irregular migration and smuggling;
  • strengthening the protection of migrants' rights;
  • enhancing international cooperation; and
  • harmonizing national policies and practices internally and within regional contexts towards common international norms.

IOM's objectives

The IBM Team works to assist governments to shape their immigration and border management policies and support their implementation by the concerned agencies. This work is supported by a comprehensive and coherent spectrum of activities that are all intertwined and mutually reinforce each other:

Since the goals of governments and other actors in migration management change over time in nature and priority, the IBM Team's activities continuously evolve to meet new migration challenges on the national, regional and international levels.

The IBM portfolio is steadily growing, with over 300 active projects, valued at nearly USD 90 million, implemented worldwide in 2010.

IBM Programming Worldwide: Number of projects

Principal beneficiaries

IBM activities are directed to requesting governments, border and immigration agencies, and border and migration management officials.