Strengthening Migration Management in Paraguay´s Border Areas

In Paraguay there is a gap between the data and the analysis available regarding migrants’ flows, mainly at the borders (border posts) of Encarnación, Ciudad del Este and Puerto Falcón. In those areas, it is only possible to check movements when entering in and leaving from the country via the same border post. The lack of data on people traveling through Paraguay encourages criminal activities such as human trafficking and transnational crimes including smuggling of people, drugs and weapons.
This problem adds up to the lack of coordination and procedures within public institutions for the referral of passengers when submitting fraudulent documentation at checkpoints.
The project’s activities will mainly be carried out in coordination with the Directorate General of Migration (Ministry of the Interior) and will aim at developing procedures according to the country’s safety needs. In order to speed-up the entry and exit verification process, the PIRS / MIDAS systems will be installed to allow the verification via the list of national and international alerts and the registration of migrants entering Paraguay through the check-points of Encarnación, Ciudad del Este and Puerto Falcón. In this context, training courses will be provided to immigration officials for them to use both PIRS/MIDAS and alert databases.