Immigration (Hansard, 22 June 2004)

§ Mr. Browne

We have been incrementally developing and implementing policies and, where appropriate, legislative changes, to uphold and enhance border security in response to threats and abuses from 1997 onwards.

Examples include the expansion of the Airline Liaison Officer network which offers vital support and assistance to airlines at key locations overseas and now has an enhanced response capability, and an informed visa strategy designed to consider qualification for entry before arrival and which is kept under regular review. In 2003 we significantly increased the number of countries whose nationals require Direct Airside Transit Visas in a response to an analysis of emerging risks. We have also enhanced and upgraded our intelligence capability to tackle organised immigration crime.

Other initiatives have represented a more radical development in the approach to protecting border security. Key examples are listed as follows: 1998—the White Paper "Fairer, Faster and Firmer" and in 1999 the Immigration and Asylum Act, set out a new approach to the management of the Immigration Control and those who seek to evade or abuse it. Key initiatives include civil penalties in relation to the transportation of clandestine entrants in road vehicles or rail freight wagons. These measures were brought into force in April 2000 and March 2001 respectively and have had a significant impact on the number of clandestine entrants detected.

The Government's strategy for tackling specifically organised immigration crime is Reflex, the multi-agency forum established in May 2000 which brings together key law enforcement players under the chair of the National Crime Squad.

2001 saw the initial phases of two pivotal initiatives which have fundamentally altered the way we operate border controls by moving elements of that process away from our geographical borders. Juxtaposed Controls—the establishment of frontier control zones in key locations overseas to enable UK Immigration Officers to consider and decide the admissibility of passengers 1373W prior to embarkation for the UK. Such controls have been in operation for some time at Coquelles and Paris Gare du Nord and since 1 February 2004 UK immigration officers have also been operating in Calais and Dunkirk. A formal agreement was signed on 15 April with the Belgian authorities to establish juxtaposed controls at the Gare du Midi in Brussels. In Calais, New Detection Technology has capacity to screen 100 per cent. of UK bound freight and deployment of the equipment elsewhere in Europe is well under way.

These initiatives have contributed to a significant reduction in inadequately documented and clandestine arrivals following implementation.

We worked hard with our French partners to achieve the closure of the Sangatte centre in Northern France which had posed a threat to border security, particularly in the Dover area, and was closed at the end of 2002.

Measures to focus the asylum system have ensured that an asylum claim is not seen as a way of circumventing controls on entry. In September 2003 asylum applications were reduced by more than half compared to October 2002 and we continue to give this area the highest priority.

In 2004 we have begun to roll out biometric (fingerprint) technology to key visa issuing posts overseas and to some specific types of passengers on arrival. The Immigration Nationality Directorate is also working with the other border agencies over the coming months to develop more closely aligned objectives and priorities in order to ensure co-ordinated, strategically driven operational activity to protect our borders.