The Home Office is introducing a range of new technologies at
UK borders to
increase immigration security.
The new IT will support the UK Border Agency's efforts to screen
every movement into and out of the UK by 2014.
A spokesman said: "The government is not interested in
where people go for their holidays, but is determined to
identify people who pose a threat to our security, stopping known
criminals and turning back illegal immigrants."
The UK Border Agency receives information on passengers from
carriers. Part of the e-Borders scheme is to count people in and
out of the country.
The agency checks people against "watch lists" using passport
readers and iris scanners. In December, a hi-tech
National Border Targeting Centre will be opened in Manchester.
By the end of 2010 staff there will monitor most British and EU
passengers and almost every foreign passenger travelling in and out
of Britain.
By the end of this year, e-Borders will screen 60% of all
passengers and crew movements in and out of the UK, checking each
person against watch lists. This will rise to
95% by the end of 2010 and 100% by March 2014.
The government will do this using facial recognition technology,
which sees the faces of passengers being scanned and compared to
their biometric passports. Trials of the system are currently
underway at Manchester and Stanstead airports, but new locations
are still to be decided.
Other technologies are being introduced to combat border
crime.
In April, new technology will be introduced to help detect drugs
and other illegal goods. Fourteen mobile freight scanners are in
use and have helped seize £260m worth of drugs since April last
year.
Two new scanners will be added, and some of the older scanners
will be upgraded and replaced. The Border Agency also uses dog
teams, carbon dioxide detectors and heartbeat monitors to detect
people, money and drugs.
The new technologies are part of a range of measures the
government is introducing to raise the bar for foreign workers
wishing to enter the UK, and "give domestic workers a greater
chance of applying first for UK jobs".
Read more about e-Borders:
Decision on e-Borders deal by Christmas >>