Haiti launches MIDAS in key official border point

IOM inaugurated the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) at the office of the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) at the official Malpasse border crossing. The use of MIDAS marks a significant step forward in border management in Haiti. Developed by IOM in 2009, the MIDAS system captures, stores, and analyzes traveler biometric information in real time, thus facilitating travel and the work of DIE officers while also enhancing border security between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The Chief of Mission of IOM Haiti, Mr. Giuseppe Loprete, stressed that "IOM's support in the installation of MIDAS at the Malpasse border point is only the beginning. As of this year, the Ouanaminthe and Belladère border points will also have MIDAS, and then potentially the international airports of Cap Haïtien and Port-au-Prince, in order to have an interconnected national migration control system". 

Notable participants at the inauguration included the United States Ambassador to Haiti, the Director of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and the Haitian Directors of the Ministry of Interior and Territorial Collectivities, DIE, and Anti-Corruption Unit.

The Ambassador of the United States, Ms. Michèle Sison, remarked: “The inauguration of Haiti’s first MIDAS installation here in Malpasse represents an important step in modernizing the cross-border travel between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. [It is] an excellent example of cooperation among the Haitian government, the United States government, and IOM”.

MIDAS has registered 35.120 people since it became fully operational in Malpasse on November 2019. IOM installed the system as part of ongoing border management capacity-building efforts, and thanks to the funding of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Migration and Refugees.