17. Fourth supplementary memorandum
submitted by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home
Office
ABUSE OF BORDER CONTROLS AT UK AIRPORTS BY
INADEQUATELY DOCUMENTED ARRIVALS, AND THEIR INTERDICTION OVERSEAS
The strategic aim for Border Control is to maintain
secure borders by preventing abuse of immigration controls at
the UK airports and seaports and at the juxtaposed locations.
We have a supporting policy of interdictions overseas, whereby
potential illegal migrants are prevented from travelling to the
UK and illegal migration routes are disrupted. Border Control
works closely with control authority partners, UKvisas, the aviation
and maritime industries and port operators. There are currently
almost 4,000 Border Control staff, stationed at ports and outstations
around the country.
LEGISLATION
The main powers to enable the Immigration Service
to carry out its functions are set out in Schedule 2 of the Immigration
Act 1971. These include powers to examine any person who arrives
in the UK for the purpose of determining whether he is a British
citizen, whether he may enter without leave and if not whether
they should be granted leave to enter the UK or refused.
1. Inadequately Documented Arrivals [IDAs]
[Air]
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| 2003 = 1,4071 | 2004 = 1,028
| 2005 = 6,831 |
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We continue to drive down IDA numbers through a range of
operational measures:
— Interdictions—at key overseas departure
points and European transit hubs. We have a network of Airline
Liaison Officers (ALOs) based in key source and transit locations
for IDAs seeking to come to the UK. The network has been expanded
as part of the Government's five year strategy and there are now
34 ALOs in 32 locations, six Deputy ALOs and five ALO floaters
who provide an additional, flexible resource to respond to emerging
threats. So far this year (to 31 January 2006) carriers with the
assistance of ALO's have denied boarding to 27,477 IDAs.
— Surveillance—The deployment of the first
full time Immigration Service Covert Surveillance Team (CST) at
Heathrow has allowed for a more focussed, concerted and determined
approach to IDAs and the associated organised criminality around
them. This will support prosecution work against facilitators.
Effective use of CCTV systems in addition to the use of the surveillance
teams has ensured that we can identify the routings of IDAs to
the UK in over 90% of cases. This provides the basis for working
with carriers to aid prevention.
— Prosecutions—Section 2 of the Asylum and
Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Act 2004 makes it an
offence for a person not to have, at a leave or asylum interview,
an immigration document which is in force and which satisfactory
establishes his identity and nationality or citizenship. Since
its inception in September 2004, the Section 2 offence has been
a core contributor to our secure borders agenda. At the beginning
of February this year, there had been over 500 convictions.
2. Clandestine Entrants [Sea]
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| 2003 = 3,482 | 2004 = 1,770
| 2005 = 1,588 |
|
Continues to be achieved by:
— Juxtaposed Controls have existed at the Channel
Tunnel sites in Coquelles and Cheriton since the opening of the
Tunnel System in 1994. They now also operate at Calais, Bolougne
and Dunkerque and at the Eurostar operation rail terminals. During
2005, 3,031 passengers were refused leave to enter in Calais Ferry
Port alone of which 1,207 were inadequately documented.
— New Detection Technology is deployed in France,
Belgium, Holland and the UK. Equipment includes:
— Heartbeat (HB) Technology uses special sensors and
a specific hardware/software combination to detect and analyse
clandestine movements within freight vehicles via the vehicle
chassis and super-structure
— X/Gamma Ray Scanners are currently deployable to specifically
search for concealed clandestine illegal entrants in the UK and
in cooperation with the Belgian Federal Police.
— CO2 probes are in use at many ports in France and
the UK. They are used to detect the exhaled breath of clandestines
in the trailers of vehicles.
We have a constant freight search team presence at the Juxtaposed
Controls, and deploy a mobile Search Team of specially trained
freight searchers in the UK and with Continental partners primarily
to support counter measures against displacement from any Continental
feeder port to the UK.
All of the activities on IDA's and clandestine entry have contributed
to the significant overall reduction in asylum intake.
3. Detecting abuse of the controls— In
2005, 31,983 passengers were removed from the UK. This is in the
context of 88,300,000 passengers travelling through the UK's ports
each year.
— We work in partnership with UKvisas to identify
and address areas of common concern and share information which
informs each other's operating policy. A formal referrals process
was introduced in September 2004 where information about visas
held by arriving passengers can be passed back to UKvisas. This
contributes towards UKvisas' quality assurance and risk assessment
processes. 1136 referrals have taken place so far.
4. Asylum Screening Units [ASUs]
— The core functions of the ASUs [in Croydon and
Liverpool] are the intake of asylum applications, intensive screening
interviews, fingerprinting and the issuing of application registration
cards (ARCs). The ASUs are the first point of contact for approximately
50% of asylum applicants who make their claim in country.
5. Looking Ahead
— EBorders-Project Semaphore. E Borders will deliver
a range of technological solutions to deliver a secure border
for the 21st Century. Semaphore will inform and de-risk the main
e-Borders implementation. It commenced in December 2004, and will
run for 39 months when it will be superseded by the full e-Borders
system. Semaphore is successfully generating alerts resulting
in a number of operational benefits to the Border Agencies. Over
1,600 alerts have been issued since Semaphore became operational.
The pilot Heathrow Passenger Analysis Unit (PAU) will maximise
the effectiveness of Semaphore by dealing with alerts destined
for Heathrow and the ALO Network. After enriching with any relevant
intelligence, the PAU will prioritise the alert and task the primary
arrivals control, an ALO or a surveillance officer to intercept.
This work will be rolled out nationally.
— IRIS (Iris Recognition Immigration System) will
deliver a biometric automated border entry system for pre-registered
travellers at selected ports in the United Kingdom. The scheme
is voluntary and is principally targeted at low risk regular travellers.
IRIS went live to the public as an operational pilot at Heathrow
Terminal 2 and Terminal 4 on 20 June 2005. Following the successful
completion of the pilot, rollout to the remaining airport terminals
(at Heathrow; Gatwick; Manchester; Stansted and Birmingham) will
be completed by end of summer 2006.
— Border Management Programme—The White Paper
"One Step Ahead—A 21st Century Strategy to Defeat
Organised Crime" tasked HM Revenue and Customs, IND and
the Police to work together to develop options for providing more
effective border controls through enhanced inter-agency co-operation.
The Border Management Programme has been established to take this
forward. It will provide more effective joint working between
the agencies in order to strengthen border security whilst minimising
the impact on legitimate traffic.
Tom Dowdall
Deputy Director
Heathrow Airport and Airline Liaison Officer Network
27 February 2006
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