^{As part of an initiative supported by the Direction Générale de la Police Nationale through the Direction de la Police des Frontières and with the approval of the CEO of Aéroports du Mali, Bamako-Sénou’s President Modibo-Keita International Airport now has a waiting area located in Terminal 2 between gates 6 and 7. The waiting area was inaugurated on August 30th 2024 in the presence of Malian authorities.}

^{Thus far, the airport did not have a waiting area, and individuals who were denied entry to Mali, were therefore transferred to the airport's Special Police Station located outside the airport’s premises. Under the partnership between EUCAP Sahel Mali and the Malian internal security forces, the Mission was asked to provide support for this project. By mobilising its security sector reform components, and more specifically the border management advisors responsible for relations with the Border Police (PAF), as well as its projects unit, EUCAP Sahel Mali has helped set up a dedicated space for foreign air passengers who are not allowed on Malian territory and are awaiting a final decision, under the following situations: a person who does not meet entry requirements and is denied entry to Mali,  an asylum seeker at the border or a person in interrupted transit.}

^{Funded with an approximate budget of €85.000, the waiting area has been equipped with the required furniture and it also features an air-conditioning system, a police station, separate dormitories and toilet facilities for each sex, a legal assistance office, a medical help desk, a kitchen and a children's playroom.}

^{This border waiting area both meets a critical need and responds to a major security and infrastructure challenge. These new facilities are crucial to the functioning of an international airport. As such, they will improve reception conditions and operations, in accordance with the relevant international conventions and treaties, while upholding human and passenger rights, as provided by:}

<sup>- The Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the status of refugees and its Protocol of 31 January 1967, ratified by Mali on 2 February 1973.
- Law n° 04-058 of 25 November 2004 relating to the conditions of entry, residence and establishment of foreigners in the Republic of Mali.</sup>

^{- Decree no. 05-322/PRM of 19 July 2005, which sets out the terms and conditions for the implementation of the above-mentioned law.}

^{In addition to funding and developing this turnkey project, EUCAP Sahel Mali will work with the Malian authorities to design a training module for border police staff assigned to the airport’s waiting area.}