Officers from Belize’s Department of Border Management and Immigration Services (DBMIS) within the Ministry of Immigration, Governance and Labour (MIGL), completed specialized training on the Migration Information and Data Analysis System, or MIDAS, following a technical mission organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to strengthen border management operations.
The program brought together about 125 immigration officers from across the country.
The mission was led by MIDAS Headquarters Representative Boran Simsek and Regional Expert Antonio Meono, with Idelki Familia Jimenez, Program Officer with the International Organization for Migration, joining the experts and DBMIS personnel during the assessment and training activities.
The program was carried out under the Regional Integration and Border Management project, implemented by IOM in partnership with the Government of Belize with financial support from the European Union under the Belize European Union Multi Annual Indicative Program. The project includes the adoption of Standard Operating Procedures governing the Immigration Department’s use of MIDAS.
Lawrence Thompson, Director of Border Management and Immigration Services, said the training would help officers apply the same procedures across Belize’s ports of entry.
“Our officers work at the frontline of Belize’s border management system every day, and their ability to use MIDAS effectively is critical to how we process travellers, manage information and maintain the integrity of our ports of entry,” Thompson said. “This training gives officers from across our border stations and the international airport a common set of procedures that they can apply in their daily work.”
MIDAS is used by DBMIS to register, process and manage traveller movements at Belize’s ports of entry. The system operates at the Northern Border, Western Border, Southern Border, Philip Goldson International Airport, Big Creek Port and San Pedro seaport.
The IOM mission combined a performance assessment of MIDAS with training designed to strengthen officers’ understanding of the system and the Standard Operating Procedures governing its use. The assessment examined operational effectiveness, core system functions and technical issues, while the training focused on system administration and the application of standardized procedures.
Technical assessments were carried out at DBMIS headquarters in Belmopan, the Western Border and the Philip Goldson International Airport. The experts reviewed MIDAS workstations and servers as well as document processing, secondary inspections, data exchange and Advance Passenger Information integration at the international airport.
Officers were trained in traveller registration, arrival and departure processing, entry and exit requirements, data protection and information management, referrals for secondary inspection, the conduct of secondary inspections and the handling of exceptional cases.
The training combined presentations, live system demonstrations, practical exercises and facilitated discussions. Officers worked in a dedicated MIDAS training database that allowed them to practice operational scenarios without affecting live traveller records. Assessments conducted before and after the sessions were also used to measure participants’ understanding and identify areas for continued training.
The mission followed hardware upgrades to Belize’s MIDAS infrastructure and the integration of Advance Passenger Information data exchange with the system. The upgrades provided an opportunity for the technical team to assess system performance and strengthen the ability of DBMIS officers to use MIDAS functions in their daily border operations.
IOM will document the findings from the assessment and training in a mission report covering technical issues identified, corrective actions, training outcomes and recommendations for the continued operation of MIDAS in Belize.
