Fingerprint crackdown on UK immigration fraud
August 25 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
Fingerprints aid UK immigration efforts
UK immigration officials will be tightening up its border controls in a cooperative effort with Australia and Canada to share migrants’ fingerprint information between the countries.
The move is intended to counter UK immigration fraud by asylum seekers and foreign criminals.
A statement by the British High Commission said: “This ground-breaking agreement has been developed by the members of the Five Country Conference, which is a forum for cooperation on measures to improve immigration controls and border security.”
The fingerprint sharing will increase border security by comparing the cross-country data of migrants attempting to hide their pasts from authorities.
UK Border Agency Deputy Chief Executive Jonathan Sedgwick commented on the program’s usefulness.
“In one such case, an individual claiming asylum in the UK as a Somali was found to have previously been fingerprinted on arrival in the US while travelling on an Australian passport. Australia subsequently confirmed that the individual was an Australian citizen wanted for rape.”
Critics of the agreement argue that the program will breach the privacy rights of individuals.
The United States and New Zealand are in talks to join the scheme in the near future.
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