|
UK set to tighten borders
28/03/2007 13:18 - (SA)
London - The government will announce on Wednesday new measures to tighten Britain's immigration controls to "restore effective control", said home secretary John Reid.
The plans would see greater use of identity checks using biometric data along with moves to crack down on those who were brought into the country because of forced marriages.
Reid said the new measures would require people wanting to come to Britain to produce a visa at their point of departure.
"If you want to come from those countries to here you have to have a visa before you leave," Reid told Sky News, saying the rules would apply to half of all nations by 2008.
People also would have to give some biometric data, either fingerprint or an iris scan, so their movements could be checked and to prevent claims that paper documents had been lost or destroyed.
Other proposals include raising the minimum marriage age at which foreign nationals could get visas from 18 to 21, according to media reports.
'A breach of human rights'
That would mean about 3 000 fewer people, mainly from the Asian sub-continent, coming to Britain each year, said the BBC.
Reid said the intention was to cut down on immigrants coming to Britain after being forced into marriages.
He said: "We believe if that happens it's a breach of human and sometimes children's rights as well as female rights."
The moves would be part of a six or seven year plan to "restore some really effective control to the tracking of people in and out of the country".
However he once again ruled out an amnesty for illegal immigrants living in Britain.
Earlier this month Reid said illegal immigrants faced being denied access to work, benefits and services.
In January, the home office announced that foreign nationals living in Britain would be required to hold an identity card with biometric data such as fingerprints in a bid to crack down on illegal working.
The identity card scheme will be rolled out in 2008.
- Reuters
|
News
