UK: Biometric visa trial begins at London's Gatwick airport.

Fingerprinting is used for the first time at London's Gatwick airport in a trial scheme which aims to increase border security in the UK. Passengers arriving in Britain on Tuesday (October 9), had their fingerprints recorded for the first time in a new biometric visa trial underway at London's Gatwick airport. During the trial, which continues until April 2008, the fingerprints and photographs of passengers presenting biometric visas issued in Freetown, Sierra Leone will be checked again in the UK. The first passengers to try out the system, did not seem to mind the extra check which consists of a swift scan of both index fingers. "I think it's very necessary for them (immigration officers) to know about people and to trust them in case there is anything wrong. Or they do something that it's not O.K. It's alright," said one of the first women to have her fingerprints checked. Motorola is managing the pilot trial and the company's UK Director of Identity Management and Security Solutions Fred Preston, hopes the new scheme will stop people defrauding the immigration system. "It's very easy to change one's name or proport to be somebody else. It's biometrics, fingerprinting is very unique to an individual. So that it is not very easy to change your identity and defraud the system," said Preston. The trial builds on the Border and Immigration Agency target to check biometrics from all non-EEA non-visa nationals at the UK arrivals control by 2011. UK's Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said the biometric system is just part of a larger overhaul of border security in the country. "Well Britain border security is going through a sweeping overhaul over the next twelve months. We are introducing a single border form that brings our customs and immigrations staffs together. We are introducing new uniforms for our staff. We are introducing new powers a little bit later on. But this is about making sure our staff on the ground have got the right technology to back up the job they do. And it helps them do one of the most important tests they do. To check whether you are who you say you are," he said. Britain is the first European country to test this technology, but motorola has said they will soon supply similar systems in Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, and Austria.

ITN Source | October 10, 2007

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