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Search for press releasesPowerful New Measures To Strengthen Our Borders
31 August 2006
New measures to strengthen our borders and to accelerate deportations of foreign nationals who pose a threat to national security came into force today.
Under legislation in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, nationals from countries outside the European Economic Area who are being deported for reasons of national security will only be able to appeal in the UK on human rights grounds. Other grounds of appeal, including against the deportation decision itself, will only be considered after the person has been deported. This will allow us to remove more quickly those individuals who are judged to pose a threat to our national security.
Provisions to improve security at our border controls by increasing the use of biometric information also came into force today. These include new powers enabling immigration officers to carry out biometric checks on any passenger who holds a biometric travel document to confirm that they are the rightful owner. This is fundamental in supporting the global roll-out of finger-printing for visa applicants by 2008.
Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said:
“By taking this legislation through Parliament we have strengthened our ability to deal more swiftly with those individuals who pose a threat to the UK’s national security, withdrawing their right to stay in the country while they appeal against deportation.
“We are committed to ensuring the safety of our borders. The power to carry out checks on the biometric information contained in travel documents will ensure that we keep pace with the progress being made worldwide on the incorporation of biometric technology as a security feature in travel documents. This is about verifying identity, making documents secure and ensuring the security of the UK's borders.”
From today, immigration officers at UK ports will also be able to take and keep the fingerprints of individuals that are being detained pending further inquiries about their identity. This will strengthen the checks they can carry out before granting admission and will also help to identify people who enter the UK legally but then try to claim asylum under a different identity.
Individuals leaving the country may also be temporarily detained if there are any doubts about their identity under further measures that came into force today. These powers will allow immigration officers to hold and interview people who are believed to be travelling on false documentation or who are thought to have entered the country illegally who abused their lawful right to be in the UK. This will enable us to identify any weaknesses in our immigration controls and take further action where needed.
Other provisions within the IAN Act, which received Royal Assent in March this year, will take effect in due course.
Notes to editors
- The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill was published on 22 June 2005. A copy of the Act can be found at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/20060013.htm
(Home Office PN 094/2005). - The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006. (Home Office PN 049/2006).
- Provisions coming into force today are:
Sections 1 & 3: provide a right of appeal for people no longer recognised as refugees but who are being allowed to stay in the UK on another basis. The right of appeal will be solely against the decision that the person in question no longer qualifies as a refugee.
Section 2: provides a right of appeal against a decision to remove someone whose indefinite leave to remain has been revoked because he has ceased to be a refugee.
Section 5: limits appeal rights if an applicant fails to provide a medical report or medical certificate where to do so is a requirement of the immigration rules.
Section 6: restricts full rights of appeal against a refusal of entry at the port to those who possess an entry clearance issued for the purpose for which entry is sought.
Section 7: enables deportation orders in national security cases to be made immediately and limits the basis of any in-country appeal (ie. an appeal that is heard before removal takes place) to human rights grounds. Other grounds of appeal, including against the deportation decision itself, will only now be considered after the person has been removed.
Section 11: gives further clarity to situations where someone’s leave to remain expires while an application for further leave is waiting to be decided or where leave has been refused, curtailed or revoked and an appeal is outstanding.
Section 14: gives effect to Schedule 1 which makes consequential amendments.
Section 19: requires the Secretary of State to issue a code of practice specifying factors to be considered in determining the amount of a civil penalty.
Section 23: requires the Secretary of State to issue a code of practice to employers specifying how to avoid contravening the Race Relations Act while seeking to prevent illegal working.
Section 27: brings together the existing provisions on the retention and examination of passports and other documents produced by or found on passengers during an examination. It also provides for a new power enabling immigration officers to require any passenger who holds a biometric travel document, to provide biometric information of the same type as contained in their travel documents for the purpose of ascertaining whether the passenger in question is the rightful holder of that document.
Section 28: enables us to take and retain fingerprints from departing passengers who are detained under the enhanced powers of section 42.
Section 29: reduces the minimum period of notice after which time an asylum seeker and his dependants are required to attend a specific place for fingerprinting from 7 days to 3 days.
Section 40: allows Secretary of State to authorise qualified persons, including police and Customs officers, to search vehicles for immigration purposes; and for the authorised persons to search and detain people or items in carrying out these functions.
Section 41: requires the Secretary of State to appoint an independent monitor whose role it will be to monitor the exercise of the powers by authorised searchers other than constables or officers of Revenue and Customs.
Section 42: provides enhanced powers of examination in respect of departing passengers and, in certain circumstances, the power to detain such persons.
Section 46: places HM Chief Inspector of Prisons’ voluntary oversight of short-term holding facilities and escort arrangements on a statutory footing.
Section 49: will allow the Secretary of State to waive the full capacity requirement for nationality applications.
Section 53: ensures immigration officers and constables can continue to seek a warrant to enter named premises in order to search for and arrest a prospective deportee and simultaneously serve him with a notice to deport.
Section 54 & 55: provide explicit statutory backing for the exclusion of terrorists from asylum and allow the Secretary of State to certify that an appellant is not entitled to the protection of the Refugee Convention.
Section 59: exempts immigration detainees held in removal centres from the national minimum wage, thereby allowing detainees to engage in paid activity.
Section 61: gives effect to the relevant repeals in Schedule 3 of the Act which details repeals of earlier legislation.
