A three-day Review Workshop on Comprehensive Migration Management Strategy (COMMIST) that will last from 2 to 4 July 2019 has started today in Double Tree Hotel, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The workshop brought together almost 30 participants including Immigration Officials from both Immigration Head Quarter (HQ) in Dar Es Salaam and border regions covered by the project; representatives from the project donor, the Department for International Development (DFID), and colleagues from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations (UN) Migration Agency in Tanzania and Regional Office (RO) in Nairobi.

The workshop aims at reviewing and updating the Comprehensive Migration Management Strategy (COMMIST I) for the purpose of agreeing on comprehensive, consultative and binding Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) that outlines the steps to be taken by the Tanzanian Immigration Services Department (ISD) to conduct the e-registration of long-term irregular migrants in the United Republic of Tanzania.

The project idea is to promote a protection-sensitive migration management approach, with the objective of registering undocumented migrants in the country with the view of supporting the Government of Tanzania (GoT) in having a clear picture of the status of the long-term irregular migrants in the country.

IOM and the Tanzanian ISD have begun the process of registering irregular migrants in the Western Regions of the country since 2014 (COMMIST 1). The successful pilot project has resulted with the registration of more than 22,800 irregular migrants within the project catchment area.

IOM has recently secured new funding to advise and assist the Tanzanian Immigration Department Services with a new phase of registration or irregular migrants in the country for a period of two years, till the first half of 2021 (COMMIST II). The project will also provide equipment and training to immigration officials to ensure the sustainability of project activities.

"The migrants that, the GoT is targeting under this project are not recent arrivals, neither refugees and nor asylum seekers but migrants who have arrived and settled in the country decades and generations ago", said Dr Qasim Sufi, the IOM CoM to Tanzania in his opening remarks of the workshop. "Status determination, regularization and documentation of irregular migrants in the country will not only benefit the GoT but also migrants. Even for migrants who will not qualify for either residency or naturalization, IOM is ready to work with the Immigration Department to facilitate their voluntary return and reintegration in their countries of origin. In this regard, I'd like to thank the Tanzanian ISD for leading this project initiative and the donor, the Department of International Development (DFID) for financially supporting it", he added.