بســم اللّـه الرّحمـن الرّحيــم
Ambassador of Japan to the Maldives, Her Excellency Takeuchi Midori,
Deputy Minister of Defense, Hassan Zameel,
Senior officials from respective border security agencies,
Invitees,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Assalam Alaikum, and very good afternoon to you all.
As I stand at this point of time, it gives me immense pleasure to have climbed the first step of the many steps ahead. My very first idea was to bring all the border agencies to the discussion table and identify how all the border agencies could work together to fill the grey areas of one another.
As the travel mobility is increasing after the pandemic, the risks associated at the border is now uncertain. The opportunities to move through regular channels were constrained by pandemic-related policies and that worsened the economic and social conditions in many countries, creating an upsurge of irregular migration. And that became an additional challenge for border security.
On the other hand, public health played only a minor role in international mobility management for decades. However, it is not the same anymore after the pandemic. Border Health has become an important part of border security now.
Additionally, threats to the border security will never remain the same. With increasing mobility and the diverse effects due to globalization, the need for betterment, or establishing appropriate mechanisms to enhance cooperation and communication will be a fundamental need to address the threats at the border.
We are here today to identify the threats associated with these factors and further. And after profound discussions, we all have identified quiet a lot of areas where the cooperation or coordination can be enhanced with collaborative efforts to address the concerns which I have just mentioned. I have seen the energy and the interest among all the participants, which is a true indication of the importance of this symposium.
Hence, I would like to assure that, we won’t be stopping here. We will now be committed to address the challenges in communication and coordination efforts, to secure our border by balancing the border security without compromising the convenience to the travelers. And as these challenges will be changing overtime, I believe this symposium shall continue annually. Next year, we shall see what improvements this year’s symposium brought, and what are the new challenges we must address by the time we conduct the next border security symposium. And as this will be a combined effort, I would like to open the opportunity to chair the next symposium by a different border agency. And that would hugely benefit the cause of this symposium.
As I have mentioned in the opening ceremony, our response will always be a joint effort and a team effort to strengthen the border security of the Maldives as guided by His Excellency President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on numerous occasions.
Before concluding, I would like to thank the Chief Guest, the Ambassador of Japan to the Maldives, Her Excellency Takeuchi Midori, for accepting our invitation.
I would also like to thank all Immigration officers and respective agencies engaged in making this dream of the first Maldives Border Security Symposium, a reality.
And finally, let me thank for the expertise and the willingness to continue the dialogue in a productive manner.
Once again thank you all on behalf of myself and Maldives Immigration.
والسّـلام عليـكم