Annex 23
CARRIERS' LIABILITY IN RESPECT OF INADEQUATELY
DOCUMENTED PASSENGERS (IDAs)
AIRLINE LIAISON
OFFICER NETWORK:
BACKGROUND
1. In 1993 the first UK Airline Liaison
Officer (ALO) was posted to New Delhi on a trial basis. His remit
was to reduce the growing numbers of inadequately documented arrivals
from that region (See Appendix A). He had responsibility for assisting
airlines operating from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
2. The ALO's main task was to provide a
comprehensive training programme for airline staff and to attend
at the airports to offer advice on whether passengers were properly
documented for travel to the UK. He was also to establish good
relations with the police and immigration authorities in those
countries with a view to their identifying and prosecuting facilitators
and racketeers.
3. In 1995 a joint IND/FCO review into racketeering
recommended that as a result of the success of the ALO role in
Delhi, the ALO network should be expanded to a further four locations.
In 1996 and 1997 ALOs were placed in Dhaka (Bangladesh), Colombo
(Sri Lanka) Accra (Ghana) and Nairobi (Kenya). The original ALO
in Delhi was replaced at the end of his tour in 1997.
4. In 1998 a Home Office Review recommended
that the network should be further expanded to a total of 20 ALOs.
Locations were selected primarily on the basis of the number of
inadequately documented passengers arriving in the UK. The current
network was completed with the postings of ALO Amman, Beijing
and Cairo in the first quarter of 2000. A list of the 20 ALO locations
is attached as Appendix B.
5. In 1998 airlines operating from the five
locations noted at paragraph 4 denied carriage to 2,095 prospective
passengers who were not adequately documented for the UK. In 1999,
4,990 IDAs were denied by airlines at 17 ALO locations. 12 of
these were new locations and the posts were filled at various
times over the course of the year.
6. In October 1998 the International Air
Transport Association Control Authority Working Group (IATA/CAWG)
published a code of conduct for Immigration Liaison Officers.
The code was drafted by the UK and ratified by the 17 national
control authorities that are CAWG members.
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