Accra – On 7 December 2022, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ghana brought together senior management officials from various state security and intelligence agencies to explore how migration data, particularly entry and exit data, can be used effectively to support intelligence-led operations in Ghana. Several law enforcement and intelligence agencies use entry and exit data to support their operations and case management. However, the limited use of information technology, notably border management information systems (BMIS), to support digitized data collection pose challenges to the effective capture of entry and exit migration data, especially across Ghana’s land borders.

To address these gaps, IOM Ghana, in April 2022, supported the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) with the provision of the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) at two land borders, Hamile (Upper West Region) and Kulungugu (Upper East Region), and is currently working to install the system at four more land borders. This intervention helps digitize the collection of migration data, including the collection of biometric and biographic data of persons entering and exiting these land borders.

“Data that informs the scale of migration remains limited in Ghana. Government recognizes the importance of reliable and accurate data to facilitate effective management of the migration-development nexus,” said Mr. Dominic Agyemang, Director of the Migration Unit at the Ministry of the Interior. He added that “effective border management requires the identification of people and goods and the collection and analysis of relevant data.” The installation of MIDAS has already resulted in an increased availability of entry and exit data. The roundtable event discussed how the various State security and intelligence agencies can leverage the data to enhance their operations, as well as improve their intelligence cycles and case management.

“Today’s gathering allowed border management and security agencies that utilize entry and exit data to discuss inter and intra-agency coordination, to ultimately leverage such migration data to better understand trends in migration dynamics and to support intelligence with investigations of transnational criminal activities,” said Nnamdi Iwuora, Senior Programme Manager, Immigration and Border Governance, at IOM Ghana.

The meeting confirmed the essential role of entry and exit data to the operations of security and intelligence ministries and agencies and the need for coordination with a wider array of agencies. The interventions are part of the “Strengthening the Northern Borders of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo” project funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement at the United States Department of State (INL).

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For more information, please contact Nnamdi Iwuora, Senior Programme Manager at IOM Ghana, Tel: +233 302 742 930 Ext. 2401 niwuora@iom.int