The e-Borders programme collects and analyses information on passengers and crew intending to travel to or from the UK before they travel. "A safe and secure border means not just better immigration control, but safer streets and more secure citizens. There can be no compromises on border security. In a dangerous world, our border is one of our main protections," he said.
In 2011, 2.6 million UK visa applications were made and there were around 200 million passenger journeys across UK borders. Five hundred million tonnes of freight passed through seaports. "(e-Borders) combined with our strict visa regime means that all non-EEA (non-European Economic Area) arriving from outside Europe will have been checked once, and many twice, while they are still thousands of miles from our passport controls. That means better protection than ever before and a stronger border," the minister added.
Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute yesterday, Green outlined the future of the Border Force, which was recently split from the UK Border Agency. Launched by the Gordon Brown government, the 750 million- pound e-Borders project is designed to collate and store information on all passengers who enter and leave the UK on a single database by 2014 to enable the police and immigration officials to check them against "watch lists". Green said border security "is about making sure that we are in the right place, at the right time, with the right information to stop the source of the threat before it even reaches our shores."