WIREDGOV

UK Border Agency celebrates six months of success

HOME OFFICE News Release (171/2008) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 10 October 2008

Delivery by the UK Border Agency has gone from strength-to-strength over the past six months with more drugs and weapons seized, more foreign criminals removed and more illegal immigrants stopped trying to cross the border than ever before.

Created in April 2008, the UK Border Agency was formed by uniting the Border and Immigration Agency, Customs at the border and UKvisas. The Agency has created a strong new force at the border which is among the most secure in the world.

Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said:

"Our Border Force has been in action since day one getting real results, keeping drugs off our streets and illegal immigrants out of the UK.

"We're currently undergoing the biggest shake-up of Britain's borders for over 45 years with a person removed every eight minutes."

Since April the Agency has:

* stopped over 3,700 dangerous weapons, including firearms, stun guns and knives reaching the street;

* prevented over 10,200 individuals attempting to cross the channel illegally;

* searched over half a million freight vehicles to ensure that they were not attempting to bring illegal immigrants in to the country;

* seized £172 million worth of illegal drugs;

* detected and confiscated more than 1,000 forged documents;

* installed facial recognition gates at Manchester airport that use the latest in biometric technology to check EU nationals into the country;

* seized in excess of 465 million cigarettes - representing a potential loss of £87 million in tax revenue; and

* unveiled foreign national ID cards which will go live on 25 November. ID cards for foreign nationals will lock people to one identity and will help:
- secure the UK's borders;
- improve immigration control and reduce identity abuses;
- enable those here legally to prove it;
- prevent those here illegally from benefiting from the privileges of life in the UK; and
- enable other government departments and public sector organisations to more easily check a person's immigration status and eligibility to entitlements.

The Government has also introduced the following changes to reduce the number of economic migrants entering the UK and staying, ensuring only those who play by the rules and have the skills the economy needs come to Britain. Already the Home Office has:
* started rolling out the tough new Australian-style Points Based System so only those with the skills the country needs can come and no more;
* announced the ending of automatic citizenship based on length of stay - newcomers must earn the right to stay and speak English; and
* announced the introduction of a new Migration Impact Fund - paid for by migrants.

Since being introduced fingerprint visas have also led to almost three million finger prints being scanned and recorded to help prevent immigration offenders entering the UK.

Five flagship sites, Coquelles, Gatwick, Harwich, Edinburgh airport and Teesport, are now leading the implementation of new front line border controls. A freight targeting system has transformed the way we detect those who break the rules by smuggling drugs. This system allows a real time risk assessment to be carried out on freight to allow officers to target high risk goods.

In the first six months of the year the UKBA has removed nearly 2,500 FNPs. This is a record performance - 22 per cent higher than for the same period in 2007. The UKBA is on track to meet the target of removing 5,000 foreign national prisoners by the end of the year.

The electronic borders system continues to deliver results and has issued more than 7,000 alerts on passengers travelling to and from the UK since it was piloted in 2005. This has led to more than 650 arrests for offences including murder, possession of firearms and drug smuggling.

The UKBA has also committed to the expansion of its detention capacity by 60 per cent which will equate to 1,500 beds.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Case Studies from the past six months

1. In July, a UK Border Agency team based in Shanghai intercepted four Chinese students trying to fly to the UK with fraudulently obtained visas. Their visas were revoked and their case was used to highlight patterns of abuse in student visa applications in this region. A special exercise was then mounted and 140 visa applicants were turned down as a result.

2. In September two young UK women were arrested in Jamaica when UK Border Agency Officers discovered £175,000 worth of cocaine in their wigs. The women were arrested as part of Operation Airbridge which is a joint project between the UK and Jamaican authorities to catch drug couriers.

3. Hull Border Agency officers, using a detection dog recently found four illegal immigrants from India stowed away inside a rented Fiat motor home, with one found hiding in the motor home's toilet. A British woman and the illegal immigrants were arrested.

4. In September UK Border Agency officers seized 42 dried seahorses from a passenger flying into Heathrow. Live seahorses are usually donated to London Zoo to supplement breeding programmes.

5. A man was cautioned by police and removed from the UK after Border Agency officers stopped him in possession of Rohypnol tablets (the 'date rape' drug). He is now barred from applying for a visa to the UK for the foreseeable future.

6. The UK Border Agency still has a number of milestones to meet as the year progresses. These are:
* within 300 days to expand detention capacity; on May 19 the UK Border Agency announced a 60 per cent increase in detention capacity, increasing space by up to 1,500 beds.
* within 330 days to begin issuing compulsory ID cards for those foreign nationals who want to stay; compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals will be introduced in November. This will lock people to one identity and enable us to make sure those who are here have the right to be and guard against abuses. We are currently piloting the technology for fingerprinting and photographing in-country visa renewals;
* by Christmas to begin counting foreign nationals in and out of the country and to introduce compulsory watch-list checks for high risk journeys before they land; and
* within 360 days to make and enforce 60 per cent of asylum decisions within six months, with alternatives to detention for children.

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