Britain’s Security Strengthened By Hi-tech Electronic Borders

Over 99 per cent of foreign nationals from outside the EEA will be tracked in and out of Britain by 2010, through targeting of higher risk countries, the Home Office has announced. The Government’s electronic border system - e-Borders - will see every passenger being counted in and out of Britain and checked against immigration and security watch-lists by 2014.

Already the £1.2 billion e-Borders system has screened 50 million passengers traveling to Britain, leading to more than 2,000 arrests, including murderers, drug dealers and sex offenders.

The announcement comes as the Home Office publishes ‘A Strong New Force at the Border’ its strategy for ensuring the UK continues to have one of the most secure borders in the world.

From this month the UK Border Agency is trialling new technology at Manchester Airport which balances high security with quicker times at immigration control.

New facial recognition gates will use scanning equipment to compare the faces of UK and EEA passengers to their biometric passports. If successful these gates could be rolled-out across the country.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:

“The UK has one of the toughest borders in the world and we are determined to ensure it stays that way.

“Our hi-tech electronic borders system will allow us to count all foreign nationals in and out of the UK, while checking them against watch-lists.

“These checks make up just one part of Britain’s triple ring of security, alongside fingerprint visas for three-quarters of the world’s population, and the roll-out of ID cards for foreign nationals locking people to one identity.

Today’s strategy also lays down plans for ‘no fly’ lists with passengers flagged up by e-Borders subsequently barred from flying with airlines into the UK.

Border and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said:

“The British public rightly expect our borders to protect the national interest, tackling immigration crime, smuggling and tax fraud.

“Our strong new force - made up of 9,000 staff working alongside 3,000 police officers at our border - has already had large scale success with millions of pounds worth of illegal drugs seized, hundreds of weapons confiscated and tens of thousands of people barred from the UK.”

The UK Border Agency confirmed today that its new hi-tech center for e-Borders will be based in Manchester, and by 2010 staff there will monitor almost every foreign passenger traveling in and out of Britain.

The new center will create up to 250 jobs for the north west of England - joining the 25,000 staff working across the UK Border Agency across 135 countries.

The UK Border Agency is signing an agreement with Manchester Airport Group to work more closely to strengthen Britain’s borders and improve the experience of legitimate passengers.

Source: Home Office

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