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'Is this another brick in the wall of Fortress UK'? - Visitors to be
finger printed.
Finger-printing
visitors to the UK before they depart from their countries of origin
will make it more difficult for people who have been persecuted
and wish to seek asylum outside their country of origin to get to
Britain. For example, someone who has been rejected (justly or unjustly),
and returned to his/her country of origin, on facing further persecution
and seeking again to leave, would be refused a visa to come to the
UK because of his/her immigration history. This is already the happening
as a result of the Schengen Information System.
Pro Asyl, a German refugee organisation,
together with the Lower Saxony Refugee Council have documented 40
cases of Kurds fleeing detention and torture, who were returned
to Turkey , and detained and tortured again (on their second attempt
they were granted asylum or humanitarian status in Germany). If
these people had been from Sri Lanka and attempted to enter Britain
subsequently, they would have been refused entry.
The description of a 'fortress
Europe' is not one based on illegal activities of EU Governments
to keep asylum seekers out. It is one based on the fact that European
Governments are agreeing various policies aimed at keeping asylum
seekers out of Europe, as evidenced by Tony Blair’s stated
aim of reducing the number of asylum seekers by half. Whether or
not these applicants have a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’
seems of little interest to these governments. |
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Visa
Fingerprint Trial for Visitors from Sri Lanka
Home
Office Press Release Tuesday 8th July 2003
http://www.wired-gov.net/WGLaunch.asp?ARTCL=18345
Everyone applying for a UK visa in Sri Lanka will be required to
provide a record of their fingerprints as part of a pilot to use
biometric data to tackle immigration and asylum abuse, the Home
Office announced today.
Fingerprint
data will be held electronically to help identify the significant
number of Sri Lankans who, on or after arrival in the UK, make fraudulent
asylum or immigration applications in a false identity. It would
also help to return failed asylum seekers from Sri Lanka who destroy
their documents by helping to establish their true nationality.
Home Office Minister, Beverley Hughes, said:
"Biometrics provide a much more secure way of confirming someone's
identity. We are working towards the wider use of physical data
like fingerprints or iris recognition in all parts of the immigration
process and have already announced our intention to include biometrics
in UK passports by 2005.
"We have to deal with the issue of those who deliberately seek
to destroy their documents before going on to make asylum claims
under a false identity or to frustrate their return to their home
country. We have already indicated that we are drawing up legislation.
The greater use of biometrics will give us more details about their
identity and how they got here.
"For an initial six months, we will collect fingerprints from
everyone who applies for a visa in Sri Lanka. This will not only
enable us to identify people who destroy their documents and then
claim asylum under another name, but will also help us to obtain
new travel documents to remove failed asylum seekers.
"This is not about creating a 'fortress Britain'. It is about
bearing down on those who would abuse our immigration and asylum
system. Using cutting edge technology to help secure our borders
will ease travel by legitimate passengers but allow us to stop and
deter those who have no right to be here."
"Sri Lanka has been selected for this pilot as Sri Lankan nationals
continue to make significant numbers of unfounded asylum applications
- and to use false identities in the process. The Sri Lankan government
is cooperating with us fully in this visa operation."
The pilot will start later this month.
Notes to editors:
1. The White Paper, "Secure Borders Safe Haven", set out
the Government's plans for an efficient end-to-end asylum system
(Home Office press notice 038/02, 7 February 2002). It is available
on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
2. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act received Royal Assent
on 7 November 2002 (Home Office press notice 294/02).
3. The legislation to facilitate greater use of biometrics, including
this pilot, is contained in section 126 of the Nationality, Immigration
and Asylum Act 2002. A Statutory Instrument to enable these regulations
was laid in the house on 12 June 2003.
4. Fingerprints will be collected from applicants at the British
Diplomatic Mission in Colombo using electronic data capture equipment.
Data would be stored electronically on a database and shared with
police and other law enforcement agencies. |
