EUAM Iraq organised a series of expertise exchanges on border management at Baghdad, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Basra airports. The aim was to bring together the responsible border control authorities of the respective airports for an exchange. Against the background of increasing traffic volumes, the officials from the Directorate for Residence Permits and Passports discussed experiences from their own working environment and identified opportunities to strengthen cooperation. In addition, EUAM Iraq's senior strategic advisers presented current international best practices.

Iraqis borders present unique characteristics and challenges 

The Mission supports Iraq in developing and implementing a national integrated border management strategy. The shared borders with Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudia Arabia, Jordan and Syria, present unique characteristics and challenges for Iraq. The Iraqi Integrated Border Management Strategy (IBM) contributes to secure and stable borders, thus reducing the risk of tensions and conflicts related to border issues. The IBM strategy also plays a pivotal role in preventing the infiltration of extremist groups, smuggling of weapons, and trafficking of illicit goods, as well as combating illegal migration.

Effective, efficient and coordinated border management is a key for secure borders

"The IBM strategy also emphasises the significance of national and international coordination and cooperation between authorities and agencies. Therefore, this exchange of experts is of high importance to create an effective, efficient and coordinated border management" summarised the strategic adviser of EUAM Iraq.

“80-90 per cent of our activities is the same at all airports. But our experiences are different. It was particularly enriching to exchange ideas about this,” said a high-ranking officer from Baghdad.

“Sharing information on conspicuous documents is crucial for our daily work and it enables us to tighten the filter for smugglers and criminals” is a high-ranking airport official from Basra convinced.

“This exchange has led to closer relations between us, it is now much easier to call someone and briefly discuss certain cases,” explained a participant from Sulaymaniyah.