VISA FINGERPRINT TRIAL FOR VISITORS FROM SRI LANKA

8 Jul 2003 11:45 AM

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.