IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has donated four Facial Matching Systems (FMS), including one to the Tanzania Immigration Services Department (TISD) at the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) on 29 September.
The FMS are used to identify fraudulent travel documents such as passports, visas and identity cards, and to detect identity fraud by travellers trying to enter or stay in the country irregularly. Two other systems were donated to the Holili Taveta One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at the land border between Tanzania and Kenya. The fourth one will be installed at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam.
Albert Rwelamira, Deputy Commissioner of the Regional Immigration Office of Kilimanjaro Region, attended the donation ceremony at the airport. Participants joined a simulation session on how to use facial matching. “The donated system is aligned with the current International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards, Recommended Practices and specifications on traveller identification management and related inspection systems,” said Qasim Sufi, IOM Tanzania Chief of Mission.
“This system is of paramount importance for an international airport like KIA in today’s increasingly mobile, interdependent and interlinked world, as it will boost its capacity to manage the processing of travel documents efficiently and securely,” he added.
The FMS are donated by IOM under the auspices of the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP 1). The UNDAP is the United Nations Tanzania Business Plan that brings together all the UN agencies and provides a platform for cooperation between them.
IOM is also a member of the Refugees Working Group that tackles challenges related to mixed migration in the country. This includes activities such as capacity building of law enforcement and other government officials on migration management issues, operationalization of the OSBP, media training, and development of training materials including the review of the Tanzania Immigration Border Procedures Manual.
The donations aim to strengthen the technical capacity of immigration officers in Tanzania at both land and air entry points in the country, to address irregular migration and enhance border security, while also adhering to data protection standards. They were made through the African Capacity Building Centre (ACBC) in Moshi, Tanzania, at the request of the Commissioner General of Immigration Services Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Tanzania.
