Vientiane – The first technical meeting under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Department of Immigration, General Department of Public Security, Ministry of Public Security, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in April 2022 on the project titled “Enhancing Border Management Capacity in Lao People’s Democratic Republic through Technology Improvement”, funded by the Government of Japan, took place on 05 August 2022 at Vientiane Capital.

This event was co-chaired by Pol. Col Saysaming Sivilay, Director General of the Department of Immigration, Ministry of Public Security, and Ms. Shereen Tuladhar, the Chief of Mission, the International Organization for Migration in Lao PDR. More than 50 representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, Watthay International Airport and the UN agencies participated in this meeting.

Ms. Shereen Tuladhar, the Chief of Mission, the International Organization for Migration in Lao PDR state the objective of the project on her opening remark that “this project is funded by the Government of Japan, aiming to contribute to the Lao Government’s efforts in facilitating safe, orderly, and regular migration through the implementation of effective and efficient integrated border and migration management.”

The meeting ran according to the agenda, which started with the project progress update and the technical discussion facilitated by the IOM team. Then, the Memorandum of Understanding Exchange ceremony took place in the second session, witnessed by the participants of the meeting.

The project shall address both hard and soft infrastructure by upgrading technology so that the Department of Immigration has improved technological solutions and capacity to manage migration flows in line with the international standards and universal value, as well as the best practice as the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This project is expected to prevent migrant smuggling and human trafficking from and transiting through the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Pol.Col Saysaming Sivilay expressed his appreciation to the IOM for the strong relationship and support between the DOI and the IOM that the DOI have been receiving various training and other facility support from IOM since 2012, and this project is one of the capacity building supports from the IOM, which has been agreed in 2022. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the signing ceremony and other activities were postponed.

This project is one of the activities in the IOM Lao PDR Country Strategy 2022 – 2026, and in parallel with the response to the outcomes of the 9th National Socio-economic Development Plan (NSEDP) on the concern of the People’s well-being, inclusive prosperity and governance and rule of laws.

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For more information, please contact: Shareen Tuladhar, Chief of Mission, IOM Lao PDR at Shtuladhar@iom.int