The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has forged a partnership with their Australian counterparts for best practices of border management, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has forged a partnership with their Australian counterparts for best practices of border management, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared.
In a statement, Tansingco said that key BI officials, led by himself, attended a study tour program in Canberra and Melbourne arranged by the Australian Embassy in the Philippines, facilitated by the Australia Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force from February 5 to 8.
The BI delegation engaged in a series of activities designed to provide valuable insights into various facets of border management.
Activities included visits to key sites, meetings with senior officers from Australian agencies, and participation in roundtable discussions focusing on advanced passenger information, immigration priorities, human trafficking, cyber threats, and counter-terrorism efforts.
“We participated in the program to understand Australia's approaches and strategies in these areas, with a view to adapting and implementing best practices in the context of Philippine immigration,” said Tansingco.
“The program also offered opportunities for the BI delegation to explore innovative technologies and operational methodologies utilized by Australian authorities,” he added.
The BI is particularly interested in the discussions on the Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR), which are advanced data used in pre-vetting arriving foreign nationals, as well as Australia’s approach on security and human trafficking, and their use of electronic gates.
Also discussed in the study tour were approaches against cyberthreats and terrorism.
“There were a lot of eye-opening learnings that we were able to note during the study tour that we will be adopting in Philippine immigration. Activities like this help us gain more perspective about international trends that we can implement in the country,” Tansingco stressed.
(OpinYon News Team)