Conference Will Address Issues of Transborder Crime and Migration
Philipsburg:--- The Government of St. Maarten is moving forward with its planning of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regional seminar to be held from the ninth to the eleventh of July.
ICAO, with the support of the Government of Sint Maarten, will hold a Regional Seminar on Machine Readable Travel Documents (MRTDs), Biometrics and Identification Management in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, West Indies, from 9 to 11 July 2013.
The MRTD Regional Seminar will assist Member States in North American, Central American and Caribbean Regions in implementing ICAO machine-readable travel document specifications and related ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices. The Seminar will specifically address the needs of States to further enhance the integrity of the passport issuance process and ensure robust identification management in order to maximize border security and facilitation benefits.
In particular, the Sint Maarten MRTD Regional Seminar will focus on the very foundation of travel document and border security: a robust national identification management system. Seminar presentations and discussions will explore in depth key components of identification management, including the role of civil registries, evidence of identification (EoI), social footprint and investigative methods of confirming it, manufacturing and personalization of national ID cards, data sharing between national agencies involved in identification management, and much more.
An industry exhibition will complement the Seminar with a broad range of products and services related to MRTDs, biometric identification, travel document security applications and border inspection systems. Seminar participants will have an opportunity to interact with ICAO industry partners and experts to discuss the latest available MRTD technologies.
The Americas and Caribbean have a long history of cross-border migration and, in many instances, weaknesses in border control and identity management. For the past decade population mobility and effective border controls have become a matter of even greater concern for governments in the Caribbean and Central America, due largely to the rise of irregular migration and trans-border crime. In addition, the linkages between national (and regional) security and border controls have prompted governments to factor international organized crime and terrorism threats into their efforts to strengthen their migration and identity management capabilities. Indeed, the need for enhanced comprehensive border and identity capacity-building strategies has emerged as a priority for both individual governments and regional bodies.
A particular challenge that will be addressed during the meeting is related to the Caribbean region containing a considerable number of Dutch, British and French overseas territories. While not part of major regional cooperation frameworks (e.g., the Caricom), those islands are nevertheless part of the overall illegal migration and trans-border crime dynamics in the Caribbean and face common security challenges along with other Caribbean States. The proposed ICAO MRTD Regional Seminar in Sint Maarten presents a step forward in addressing those challenges in a coordinated regional manner in the spirit of inclusion and cooperation.
Invitations have been sent the Immigration, Customs, Civil Registry, the Princess Juliana International Airport, The Harbour, the Ministry of Justice, the Police department, Customs and the Counterparts of the various Organizations from French St. Martin. The Cabinet of the Prime Minister urges early registration to ensure places at the prestigious conference. For more information attendants are urged to send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister