From 15 to 17 March in Gaborone, the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and British Government officials are to hold a workshop for 30 Botswana immigration officials and travel industry personnel. This seminar is aimed at equipping Immigration and Airline officers with the skills and knowledge to deal with challenges posed by trafficking, international crime and other cross border migration issues.

The workshop will be opened by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Ms. Segakweng Tsiane who says, “This is a rare opportunity to learn about the best internationally acceptable practices in dealing with irregular migration especially trafficking in persons from the best experts in the field. I have no doubt that from this seminar, participants will learn more about the rights and obligations of all migrants.”

Participants will include immigration and police officials, document checking agencies and airline staff representing airlines operating at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. 
The seminar is particularly relevant as Botswana is phasing out its manual passports in favour of electronic machine readable passports. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship is crossing over to the more secure system to strengthen the integrity of Botswana travel documents which in recent years have been targeted by criminal elements. 
 
The workshops are part of IOM’s and the UK Border Agency’s efforts to share the best internationally acceptable practices in dealing with irregular migration and trafficking across Southern Africa.  The project is the first to offer a cohesive, regional response incorporating Governments, NGOs and the private sector.

The workshop will equip Government and travel industry staff with current trends and the necessary skills to identify forged documents, imposters, irregular migration at an early stage, and in particular to be able to detect and assist potential victims of trafficking. It also will encourage liaison between immigration and airline officials which is key to preventing this damaging trade in human beings.

‘This project is innovative in that it marks the first time that immigration officials and airline carriers will receive such training, and both IOM and the UK Border Agency hope to see a significant impact on the early recognition and appropriate tailored response to cases that the target group may come across.’ Says IOM’s Marija Nikolovska and the UK Border Agency’s Regional Director for Africa, Simon Peachey.

Organised by the IOM’s Regional Office for Southern Africa in Pretoria, the training has been funded by the UK Government. The workshop is a partnership between the UK Government and IOM in the truest sense, in that modules are collaboratively prepared and tailored, and the training is jointly conducted. They combine IOM’s expertise on counter-trafficking and technical cooperation on migration management for governments with UK Border Agency’s expertise in forgery detection. 

The UK Border Agency’s Regional Director for Africa, Simon Peachey, says, “The UK Government is very pleased to be involved in this groundbreaking initiative to tackle irregular migration and in particular human trafficking and the misery it causes.  This is an international trade which requires an international response.”

Prior to this exercise, The Government of Botswana has interacted with IOM in various migration related fora, including the Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa, (MIDSA) an annual gathering which brings together SADC states to discuss issues of migration. 

For more information, please contact Marija Nikolovska Tel +27-12 342 2789, Email:mnikolovska@iom.int or Puseletso Mompei, Tel: +27 71 68 999 66, E-mail: pmompei@iom.int