Maahir Posted January 23, 2004 January 23, 2004, 04:15 PM Travellers from five east African countries will be fingerprinted when applying for British visas to stop the use of false identities and abuse of asylum rules, the British embassy in Ethiopia said today. The measure will also apply to those travelling on refugee documents from those countries in a move aimed at cutting the number of people using a false identity to claim asylum. "Those applying for visas to come to the UK from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda will be required to provide a record of their fingerprints when applying for a visa," an embassy statement said. The move is part of a plan to tackle unfounded asylum claims particularly from Somali nationals and fraudulent claims by individuals claiming to be Somalis, the embassy said. "Evidence shows that a significant proportion of asylum seekers who claim to be from Somalia are in fact from other east African countries - a recent pilot language analysis exercise suggested that the number may be over 10% of all Somali claimants," it added. Somalis have been leaving their homeland in steady numbers since the Horn of Africa country descended into chaos with the overthrow of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Many obtain refugee status in neighbouring countries and then apply for final settlement in Britain, where Somali asylum applications have been growing sharply, and other wealthy industrialised countries such as Australia and Canada. Allison Marriott-Halimeh, an official at the embassy in Addis Ababa, said the introduction of fingerprinting in the visa section was essential to prevent abuse of the system. "This will build public trust and confidence in our immigration and asylum policies, so we can welcome to the UK those who have a legal right to be there," she said. Diplomats said the requirements would be extended in due course to visa applicants travelling from Kenya. - Reuters Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maahir Posted January 23, 2004 Damn man?? The brits now are keen to takle this, no more malis fooling the system getting visa again isdhiib, LOL .. we have to find another idea of doing so . Any good one's guyz God Help Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
