01 Mar 2007

The human rights group Liberty today will give evidence to the Parliamentary UK Borders Bill Committee about Government plans to introduce biometric identity cards for all non-European Economic Area nationals, generally acknowledged to be the first step in the roll out of the controversial Identity Card Scheme.

Liberty fears that registering the biometric data of all non-EEA nationals will not tackle exploitation of illegal workers but instead could lead to the unfair targeting of ethnic minorities by imposing internal border controls.
 
Liberty’s Policy Director Gareth Crossman said:
 
“Unfortunately there is no guarantee that the disastrous effect of mandatory ID cards on race relations in other European countries would not happen here.  
 
When ethnic minorities are repeatedly targeted to present identification the end result is resentment and discontent.”
 
The Bill also includes plans to deport foreign nationals without proper safeguards. Foreign nationals imprisoned for more than one year or imprisoned on other specific offences would face automatic deportation, which Liberty fears would unfairly sweep up non-violent offenders.
 
Liberty welcomed new powers in the Bill to bring human traffickers to justice more easily.  
 
Contact: Jen Corlew on 0207 378 3656 or 0797 3 831 128 
  
Notes to Editors
 
1)Liberty Policy Director Gareth Crossman will give evidence to the Parliamentary Committee on the UK Borders Bill at 15:00 on 1 March 2007. A copy of Liberty’s UK Borders Bill Briefing February 2007 can be found on the policy pages of Liberty's website.  
 
2) Plans to register biometric data of non-EEA nationals and issue biometric identity cards are extremely broad in scope. The scheme will not impact upon unscrupulous employers exploiting illegal workers – it will undermine the privacy rights of all non-EAA nationals. As stated in “Identity Cards: the Next Step” in November 2003, mandatory biometric documents for foreign nationals staying in the UK longer than 3 months is the first step towards general ID cards compulsion. 
 
3) Liberty believes that plans to automatically deport foreign nationals who have been imprisoned for more than one year or for specific offences will sweep up non-violent offenders. Liberty welcomes the Government’s promise to consider the European Convention on Human Rights and the Refugee Convention but fears that these exceptions are too limited. 
 
 4) The Bill provides increased detention and search powers for immigration officers, which Liberty believes is part of the Government’s general movement toward extending police powers to non-police agencies. The scheme offers no proper accountability or complaints mechanism.