Immigration and Border Governance

This page compiles the main immigration and border management initiatives by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Rwanda.

Secure Cross-border Social, Economic and Commercial Activities in the Great Lakes Region

Since 1 December 2018, IOM Rwanda is implementing a European Union funded project entitled ‘Secure Cross-border Social, Economic and Commercial Activities in the Great Lakes Region’, which aims at strengthening sub-regional economic integration and social cohesion of cross-border communities and at increasing cross-border trade.

This comprehensive multi-year and multi-stakeholders regional action aims at establishing a reliable Integrated Border Management (IBM) structure at the Rusizi (Rwanda)-Ruzizi II (DR Congo) border post. 

The project activities comprise:

1) Infrastructural development, with the construction of a One Stop Border Post Rusizi II/Ruzizi II, between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo; 
2) Provision of a contextualized Border Management Information System;
3) Capacity development to build a solid IBM foundation, at national and bilateral level (between the two countries);
4) Interventions aimed at strengthening cross-border trade through the empowerment of the informal traders who are mostly women;
5) Enhancing linkages between the cross-border communities; and
6) Creating a safe environment, especially for the women traders in the border areas.

IOM is working closely with the implementing partner, Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), a non-profit organization, promoting the economic and commercial sector in East Africa and strongly engaged in infrastructural development for border trade. IOM will draw on its expertise in migration and border management and human mobility issues, while TMEA will draw on customs and trade experience to work jointly with the two Governments.

Rwanda: Strengthen Border Management and Border Security in Rwanda through the Implementation of Advanced Passenger Information (API)/Passenger Name Record (PNR)

The project, which is funded by the IOM Development Fund (IDF) and implemented by IOM Rwanda in cooperation with the Directorate General for Immigration and Emigration (DGIE) of Rwanda, aims at contributing to the Government of Rwanda (GOR)’s endeavour to provide safe migration routes for Rwanda nationals, migrants and transiting passengers and complement the government’s efforts to establish its API/PNR system. 

The project has therefore the overall objective of contributing to enhanced travel facilitation and border security in Rwanda through strengthening legal and technical capacities in API/PNR systems in compliance with the international standards, especially thanks to enhanced institutional capacity and knowledge and the development of relevant API/PNR legislation and guidelines for Rwanda. 

The above will be achieved through three sets of activities: 

1) Support to the development of an API/PNR law in Rwanda; 
2) Capacity building on API/PNR-related issues;
3) Study visits to selected European Union (EU) Member States (MS). 

Global Programme: Enhancing Readmission and Legal Identity Capacity (RELICA)

The project is financed by the Government of Denmark and implemented by IOM in Iraq, Rwanda and Cabo Verde. It intends to develop readmission capacities in selected countries across the globe through ID management and assist them in improving their abilities to provide access to legal identity, based on their respective needs and bilateral negotiations on readmission. The overall goal is to establish or strengthen robust identification mechanisms in the selected countries to lay the fundamental foundations for the global roll-out of the electronic Readmission Case Management System (eRCMS). 

In Rwanda the project focuses on two outcomes:

1) Support to the strengthening of the migration management policy framework, through the update of the National Migration Policy of Rwanda.
2) Support in enhancing travel security and migration management systems through strengthening and modernizing IT and software operational capacities of the Government of Rwanda.