South African immigration processing technology will boost airline security

November 05 2009 by Liam Clifford

Fears that the World Cup in South Africa will act as an attraction for people wanting to move to South Africa illegally.

Ahead of the football World Cup in 2010, airlines carrying 85 per cent of passengers travelling to South Africa have signed up to an electronic system that will help to cut the number of illegal immigrants moving to South Africa.

The advanced system will be launched this month and will allow airlines to identify questionable travellers at the point of check-in at their country of origin, preventing them from so much as boarding a plane to South Africa.

The new system has been developed among concerns that the World Cup will attract people traffickers and other illegal immigrants hoping to live and work in South Africa.

31 of 41 airlines offering flights to and from South Africa have signed up to the passenger processing system. Jason McKay, the country’s deputy director-general for immigration services, says that the government is negotiating with the remaining airlines and that these negotiations are on course.

McKay says the system is a way of “expanding [South Africa’s] borders”. The technology will mean suspect travellers wanting to move to South Africa can be identified earlier. The current system only identifies such travellers on entry to South Africa, which in some cases can cause problems.