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Fiji Launches IOM-Backed Immigration and Border Management Training Package

IOM Chief of MIssion Solomon Kantha and Assistant Minister Hon. Ratu Rakuita Vakalalabure. ©IOM Fiji

Immigration staff at the launch of the Immigration and Border Management training package with Assistant Minister Hon. Vakalalabure and IOM Chief of Mission. ©IOM Fiji

Suva – This week (9 August), the Assistant Minister for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, Ratu Rakuita Vakalalabure, unveiled Fiji's inaugural Immigration and Border Management Training Package, which was developed in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

This milestone initiative marks a significant step forward in enhancing the capabilities of Fiji's immigration officers. The launch event was attended by officials from the Fijian Immigration Department and the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, underscoring the importance of the occasion.

The foundation of this comprehensive training package was laid through a capacity needs assessment conducted by IOM in early 2022. Part of the Strengthening Fiji’s Border Management Capacity project, which benefited from funding by the IOM Development Fund, the training curriculum encompasses six modules.

The modules encompass policy and legislation, analysis and reporting, information sharing, traveller assessment, client service, and border control. Designed to cater to a wide spectrum of professionals within the department, the training is strategically tailored for new officers, seasoned staff, and personnel at various hierarchical levels.

Assistant Minister Vakalalabure commended the initiative, stating, that the Immigration and Border Management training package will upskill and empower Fiji’s immigration officers with knowledge on the functions of an immigration agency. “It focuses on building capacity for policy and legislation development including analysis and reporting, and areas that were identified from the capacity needs assessment.”

According to Fiji’s first Migration Profile published by IOM in 2020, Fiji hosts more immigrants than any other Pacific Island nation apart from Papua New Guinea and attracts workers and students from the Asia-Pacific region. Along with the rest of the Pacific, Fiji is faced with migration challenges related to climate change and labour mobility, with migration trends indicating that inward and outward migration numbers will continue to grow.

Solomon Kantha, IOM Chief of Mission in Fiji, underscored the critical role of building the capacity of immigration and border officials in effectively managing migration challenges.

“Immigration plays a key role in travel facilitation, border protection and revenue generation for the country and immigration officers therefore need to keep abreast with the changing migration trends in the region and on changes in policy, legislation, internal processes, and ICT systems including integrated border management systems. Training is therefore an essential part of immigration agencies.”

Kantha added that the training package will be owned by Fiji Immigration Department where the department’s staff identified as trainers will continue to deliver training to Immigration and partner border agencies whenever required.”

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For more information, please contact: Sera Raisulu, IBG Project Coordinator at sraisulu@iom.int