E-Borders, 150,000 Illegal Immigrants & Airline Responsibilities

This week we heard that the Border Agency currently has a backlog of 276,000 immigration cases and private companies are tendering for the contract to deal with them.

It is a sad fact that a third of immigrant overstay in the UK. Passenger records held in the e-borders database, which covers details of all flights outside Europe to and from Britain, will be checked and there will be careful monitoring of the 100 immigrants whose visas expire daily.

MPs sitting on the Commons Home Affairs Committee said the UK has become a ‘Bermuda Triangle’ for migrants, a country where it is ‘easy to get in, but impossible to keep track of everyone, let alone get them out.’

So what part do the airlines play in prevention of this problem?

The legal responsibilities of airline carriers are found in the migration laws and regulations of the state that grants those rights to land. All carriers must therefore be familiar with, and comply with, a wide range of legislation and regulations relating to national border control procedure and admittance.

This is detailed in Annex 9 of ICAO’s Convention on Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention which covers the obligations on Carriers and states regarding the Facilitation of people and implementation of Border Control.

Having effective and harmonised guidelines to deal with:

•the communication of advance passenger information

•improperly documented travelers

•the denial of boarding to potential asylum-seekers

•and arrangements in regard to inadmissible passengers who are in transit

are important for airlines and airports to meet their obligations and provide the highest levels of customer service, as well as keep control of operational costs of staff and IT systems incurred as a result of new security requirements and mandates.

An effective solution for airlines?

The ARINC Border Management System is designed to adapt to the changes in operational process and support new technology, enabling Border Control agencies to flex with changing demands and capabilities.

Today it is not enough to simply secure borders from unauthorised entry by known undesirables. Now it is necessary to manage the stay of travellers, from entry through to exit, to know who has been in the country and when they left.

The ARINC Border Management System delivers a full stay management capability, screening all travellers before they travel, and managing visitors throughout their stay.

The ARINC Border Management system is a role-based system, managing entry and exit processes, and improving traveller flow at the primary line. The system supports secondary line investigative processes, enabling immigration, customs and other agencies to co-ordinate resources for a holistic view on potential threats.

For more information please visit ARINC Border Management Solutions