LONDON: Britain should consider fingerprinting the thousands of immigrants caught trying to enter the country illegally every year via France, an independent report on Britain’s borders said yesterday.
Over 8,000 illegal immigrants were caught trying to enter Britain in either vehicles or containers between September 2011 and August 2012.
Independent Commissioner John Vine questioned why their prints were not registered when the information could be used for those who later re-entered Britain applying for asylum.
“I find it surprising that people attempting to enter the UK concealed in freight vehicles, who are discovered by Border Force, are no longer fingerprinted at Calais or Coquelles,” he said, referring to two French coastal towns where the Border Force used to fingerprint until 2010.
The Home Office said that fingerprinting was not always of use but would look again at its policy. “Taking fingerprints didn’t actually help to remove people who got to the United Kingdom,” immigration minister Mark Harper told the BBC’s Today Programme. “But we’ve accepted ... that it would be appropriate to review our approach.”
With immigration set to be a key issue at the 2015 general election, the Conservative-led government has been ratcheting up efforts to catch illegal immigrants, with spot checks by border staff last month in London and posters in the capital warning illegal immigrants to leave the country.
But illegal immigrants arriving via northern France are still able to by-pass migration checks on some Eurostar train services, the independent report said.
Reuters
