Dhobley - IOM, the UN Migration Agency, in partnership with the Immigration and Naturalization Directorate of Somalia held a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a new border post in Dhobley on 21 September. The project is funded by the Government of Norway. 

“We have been renting a small office where all our paper work is done but it is far from the entry point and this makes it difficult to monitor movement along the border. Operating in open air is risky for us as government officials, we can easily be attacked by criminals,” said Mohamud Abdi Ahmed, a Senior Migration Officer with the Government of Somalia. 

He added, “IOM has trained our staff, equipped our offices and provided us with vehicles for mobile border patrol which are very crucial for us and meet our needs. We are glad to work closely with IOM and welcome you to implement this new activity and thank you for your support.”

Mohamud Ahmed addresses stakeholders at the official ground breaking ceremony of the Dhobley border post. © Ali Mahdi Ibrahim / UN Migration Agency (IOM) 2017

Situated along the Kenya-Somalia border, Dhobley town experience a high number of cross border movements driven in part by climatic conditions and the movement of Somalia refugees between the two countries. 

Migration officials estimate that some 2,000 people cross the Dhobley border each week.  

The new facility, set to be opened in early 2018, will help enhance the operational capacity of Immigration and Naturalisation Directorate and control along the Kenya-Somalia border. “IOM is committed to this partnership and has been constantly in communication with the IND as far as processes leading up to this occasion is concerned,” said Fatuma Aden, IOM Field Coordinator. 
IOM has contributed to the improvement of migration management capacities in Somalia through training of immigration officers, provision of IT systems for examination and analysis of migrant documents and organizational development support.

For more information, please contact Stephen Matete at IOM Somalia, Tel: 00 254 20 292 600, Email: smatete@iom.int