The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has successfully implemented Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) at the Gwadar International Airport and the new Pakistan-Iran land border in Gabadt.
“Securing Pakistan begins with securing international borders. And this means all borders including international airports, land, rail routes and sea borders,” a NADRA spokesperson quoted NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik as saying.
The spokesperson said the system was designed and tailored specifically per immigration laws of Pakistan and would greatly help in preventing illegal entry of people, use of counterfeit documents, human smuggling and other travel related frauds.
IBMS was now operational at the Pakistan-Iran border for the management of passengers at all entries/exists through these stations and all passengers would be processed through the system, she added.
She further said that the NADRA was a partner for the implementation of IBMS for Federal Immigration Authority (FIA) to replace the existing PISCES system at all the entry and exist points in Pakistan including airports, railway stations and land routes.
Moreover, it is pertinent to mention here that IBMS was already operational on all major international airports including Benazir International Airport Islamabad, Quaid-e-Azam International Airport Karachi, Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore, and airports of Peshawar and Quetta.
Earlier, NADRA had also implemented IBMS and land border between Pakistan-Afghan border at Torkham and on the rail route between Pakistan and India at Khorapar, Sindh.
Highlighting IBMS features, the she said that the system had been designed to document and store the entire process starting from visa issuance till the point of departure and arrivals from the country, thus preventing illegal human trafficking as well as illegal immigrants to flee from the country.
IBMS had been equipped with the latest technologies like advance fingerprint matching, digital facial recognition system and specialised handling for different categories of travelers, she added. Furthermore, the NADRA had converted huge amount of manual legacy data into digital information to crack down illegal immigration, the spokesperson said.
“We have helped built the capacity of FIA and helped them so that they can help themselves by making using of latest technology to do their core job – combating human trafficking and international terrorism,” said Tariq.
Details of millions of international travelers were now part of IBMS, he added.
NADRA was working on all remaining land and sea borders to deploy its homegrown technology. The system was indigenously developed by software engineers of NADRA.
The integrated system used by the NADRA would also carry out the following tasks: Passport verification, exit control databases, airport surveillance feeds, visa information and other related databases to ensure unwanted persons should not enter Pakistan and to keep track of over staying people beyond their departure date on legal visas.
The system was already functioning successfully on Quetta International Airport. Minister of Interior Rehman Malik was expected to formally inaugurate the system soon.
