Monrovia – The Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization says it is strategizing on ways to secure the country porous borders amid reports that it has been forgotten as more illegal aliens filter through.
The Ministry of Justice last month disclosed that there are 156 entry points in the country but only 59 are manned by personnel of the BIN.
Speaking at a program recently, BIN Commissioner, Col. Lemuel Reeves said vigorous measures are being put in place to property ninety percent of Liberia’s borderlines.
Col. Reeves said entry and exit points for citizens and aliens must be guarded properly to ensure proper revenue generation.
The Deputy Attorney General said public perception that the BIN is not prepared to ably protect Liberia’s borders must be deeply rooted out, saying they have trained over 900 additional officers since 2011 and have conducted joint security patrol at various points of entry.
“We have strategized on the development of the manpower, giving them the capacity to perform. In this regards, as far as 2011, we have over hundred and fifty of our personnel trained at the Ghanaian Immigration School in basic immigration formalities to kick off the process,” Immigration head stated.
Internal capacity building, according to the BIN Commissioner, is essential, especially training midlevel personnel in the Bureau to manage their skills through strategic planning etc.
He frowned on passengers profiling and fraud detection at various border points across Liberia but on the other hand registered that there are over 200 immigration officers the BIN can rely on for border patrol techniques, including search and seizures.
“We notice that a lot of people enter the BIN without proper training, so what we are doing now is to build up their technical skills higher than ever before.”
He extolled the level of cooperation and coordination among joint security team at various border points in the country.
He named the launch of the integrated communication system in Liberia as a vital tool for security network which will aid in fostering the work of immigration at borderlines and headquarters.
“We’re going to have a radio at every border points where immigration officers will talk to each other, something that has never happened before in the sector”, he disclosed.
The involvement of citizens, he said, is critical in supporting the work of immigration officers in the country since the people are also concerned about their security and welfare.
He lauded the Legislature for the passage of the Police and Immigration Act, placing specific emphasis on the surveillance complaints board, a component that speaks of the total involvement of surveillance in investigating Police and immigration personnel.
Willie N. Tokpah – [email protected]