Malay Crash Leads to British Security Fears

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The use of false passports by two passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which crashed a couple of days ago have highlighted the fact that in the United Kingdom, the passport details of more than twenty million people entering and leaving the United Kingdom every year are not being properly checked.

The Home Office’s most recent figures show that data is still not being collected and examined for about 10 percent of the 200 million people flying in and out of the United Kingdom every year.

The Telegraph reports that the figures have added to concerns about Britain’s aviation security. Norman Baker, Minister of State for the Home Office, yesterday said that the MH370 mystery bolsters the case for Britain to have tougher exit checks for people leaving the country.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The Home Office admitted that it needs to “improve” border checks using advance passenger information (API) in the coming years. Interpol has repeatedly said that governments are failing to properly monitor stolen passports.

According to HLS News Wire Britain’s e-borders scheme was supposed to improve immigration controls by collecting passport details from people on every scheduled inbound and outbound journey to and from the United Kingdom. The U.K. government originally set a target to collect data on 95 percent of all passenger movements.Yet, millions of travelers are still not being fully checked.