Border Control
Our border control is an organised and effective operation,
with comprehensive visa regimes and extensive systems
and powers for checking passengers who are considered
to be a security risk.
The strength of our border control lies in the specialist
expertise and close co-operation and co-ordination of
the key agencies: Police (including Special Branch),
the Security Service, Immigration and Customs.
These agencies operate an intelligence-led approach,
targeting those who pose a risk to our security, while
not causing endless disruption to passengers, trade
and freight. It is essential to strike this balance
if we are to maintain the economic strength that terrorists
want to destroy.
Strengthened security
We took a wide range of measures to further strengthen
airport and port security in the aftermath of the September
11 attacks in the US. For example:
- Screening and searching of passengers and baggage
at airports and seaports has been stepped up.
- Examining Officers for Police, Immigration and Customs
now have the power to stop, question, search and detain
any individual entering or leaving Great Britain or
Ireland to determine whether they are, or have been,
concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation
of acts of terrorism.
- Air and sea carriers must now supply information
to an Examining Officer, upon written request, about
passengers, crew and freight on all journeys to, from
and within the UK. This power is currently only used
in exceptional circumstances. Access to this information
is a vital tool in the fight against terrorism and
related crime, as it allows the enforcement agencies
to obtain intelligence, and to target and track terrorists
and those who support them.
- We are setting up for the first time joint immigration
controls in France and Belgium, so that people can
be checked, and if necessary refused passage, before
they leave for the UK.
- New detection technology has been installed at the
Channel Tunnel entry points and the port of Calais
to check for people concealed in lorries or trains.
This technology is currently being extended to other
ports in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, effectively
exporting our border controls across the Channel.
- New equipment is being introduced at all United
Kingdom ports and Airports so that we can begin routine
screening for illicit importations of radioactive
materials – enhancing the strong anti-terrorist
measures already in place.
In addition, the National Co-ordinator for Ports Policing,
a senior police officer based at the Home Office, inspects
all ports to make sure that resources are being used
effectively. He encourages close liaison between Police,
Immigration and Customs, and provides advice on various
issues, including counter-terrorism.
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