US and allies lay global foundation for biometric border checks
Pastor Dale Morgan
US and allies lay global foundation for biometric border checks*
UK lays down...proposals
By Mark Ballard
Published Monday 18th June 2007 14:26 GMT
The UK has proposed a transatlantic arrangement for sharing biometric
data about travellers as US coalition countries in the "war on terror"
push for a global system to control migration.
The initiative officially lays the first brick in a concerted effort to
establish a common border.
Launching the UK's borders and immigration strategy in Washington today,
Home Secretary John Reid said the UK and US should "routinely share
information about travellers of interest", as well as people caught with
fake passports, or those trying to side-step immigration controls.
He proposed greater co-operation between coalition countries because, he
said, the UK couldn't protect its borders "by operating in a bubble".
"Today we are undertaking to improve that co-operation through better
exchange of immigration data and working together to tackle the reasons
for migration," he said in a statement.
The UK Borders and Immigration Agency's Strategy to build stronger
international alliances to manage migration, published today, proposes
establishing the international legal basis to share biometric
immigration data.
It said the UK would "rapidly" bring forward plans to use other
technologies to pick undesirables out of queues at UK borders. It
proposed "voice analysis" as one example. New technologies would be used
for the "scientific and technical identification of nationality" and to
"fix people's identities".
The report, endorsed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as well as
the Home Office, described how "allied countries" were working to make
their immigration systems "interoperable and compatible" so they could
"systematically" share data about travellers.
The UK, US, Australia, and "some European countries" had already made
steps in this direction.
"We will build on the commitment of the Four Country Conference of the
UK, USA, Canada and Australia in April 2007 to develop projects that
will underpin a framework for systematic exchange of data," said the
report. Similar arrangements were being promoted in Europe.
The UK would also seek to share more immigration data with foreign
security agencies to help prevent criminals from coming to the UK. It
would explore an "international data exchange agreement" to provide the
legal basis for this to happen.
Many such arrangements are already being thrashed out, with Europe
pushing ahead with an arrangement to share DNA and biometric records
between police forces, a common European biometric immigration database
steaming ahead, and a wider agreement to allow more liberal sharing of
data between European police forces.
US demands for information about European travellers have led to some
tension with the EU, but as talks to find a solution progress toward a
possible Passenger Name Record agreement on 30 June, the two sides are
also exploring a wider initiative that might allow them to share police
and immigration data.
The UK is already collecting passenger information to feed its border
computers, while from tomorrow passengers travelling to Spain must
supply personal details in advance of their journey.
The UK strategy noted its participation this summer in Biodev II, a
proof of concept trial for a shared, external biometric border with
other European states, while it has already set out its plans for
"offshore border checks".
From 2008, all UK visa applicants will have to supply their biometrics
and all non-EEA nationals will be obliged to carry biometric identity
cards. ®