UK: Government admits 10,000 bogus documents were found last year
Some 10,000 fake, forged or stolen passports were seized at British ports and airports last year – a massive increase approaching 50 per cent.
According to a report in today’s Daily Express, the Home Office minister admitted the increase in a written parliamentary answer to MPs – and the news provoked concerned responses from fellow politicians.
The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes told the newspaper: “Borders are much less secure than many of us thought. The fact that passport seizures is up is good news but it shows the UK suffers organised immigration fraud on a huge and growing scale. Terrorists, criminals and illegal immigrants cannot be allowed to enter the country on the quiet.”
As reported by News From Abroad, the Government wants to introduce new passports, capable of storing fingerprint or iris recognition information, by 2006. But Mr Hughes countered: “Hi-tech passports will help spot the fraudsters but it won’t stop them trying to find ways in. We need a single, effective border force and a system of counting everyone in and everyone out.”
