Majuro - On 15th November 2018, 12 Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) officers, nine from the Division of Immigration, received IOM certificates in Immigration and Border Management (IBM) and Passport Examination Procedures.

The 15-day training program, facilitated by IOM Senior Regional IBM Specialist Donato Colucci, was in preparation for the country's new Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) – a border management system funded by the government and supplied by IOM.

The RMI will become the first country in the Pacific region to own and operate a MIDAS system customized to meet its country-specific needs.

Mercyba Balos, the RMI’s Deputy Director, Division of Immigration, welcomed her first in-depth training on Passport Examination Procedures. “From participating in the training, I now feel more confident in carrying out my duties at the border, as well as in examining travel documents. Before I had little knowledge of what makes a secured document secured. But now I understand what to examine and what to look out for,” she said. 

Immigration Officer Michael Note said that his take home message from the program was: “Better learning by mistakes now during the training, than tomorrow and in the future when you are at the border.”

The installation phase of MIDAS is now underway at the Division of Immigration’s HQ, Amata Kabua International Airport and Majuro Seaport - Uliga Docks.

On 21-28 November IOM MIDAS developer Dr. Niko Pepanashvivi trained nine officers on how to operate the system and ensure its sustainability. He also trained IT staff on how to install MIDAS on the hardware provided and how to set up workstations.

IOM’s MIDAS training package also includes a Training of Trainers component, which will enable selected officers to train additional end users.

For more information, please contact Laura Freeman at IOM Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tel: +692 625 4707, Email: lfreeman@iom.int