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Australia tightens border security

24 February 2010 22:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Australia will tighten its borders with intense biometric scrutiny of travellers from high-risk countries in a move that could heighten tensions with other nations in the region, APA reports quoting â€œThe New Zealand Heraldâ€.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the planned introduction of fingerprinting and facial recognition technology for visas in 10 as-yet unnamed countries as part of new measures to protect Australia from terrorism.
Canberra will also set up a new Counter-Terrorism Control Centre, led by the domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, to increase co-operation between federal and state law agencies.
It follows a range of moves to tighten borders, including a A$200 million ($257 million) plan to boost aviation security that includes body-scanners and cutting-edge x-ray technology at airports.
The measures were announced during the release of a white paper on terrorism that warned Australia would be a specific target for terrorists for the foreseeable future.
"The threat is not diminishing," Rudd said.
Since 2001 more than 100 Australians have died in terror attacks overseas, and the white paper said numerous attacks had been thwarted within Australia.
The paper, which said no government could guarantee complete protection from terror, warned that foreign jihadists and Australian-born radicals attracted to a distorted and militant view of Islam presented a permanent and increased threat.
The new visa system, being developed with Britain in a four-year, A$69 million programme, will match fingerprints and faces with Australian and international databases in a bid to stop suspected terrorists before they get on a plane.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland said Canberra was working with Britain to develop a system that would draw on each others’ intelligence resources.
"We will be working with the UK to work out where they have coverage and, of course, rather than duplicating their coverage, we may be able to value-add to theirs and respectively get the benefit of where they are locating their [similar] technologies," he said.
The inclusion of countries on the list is likely to be sensitive, especially for nations such as Indonesia.
McClelland and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith declined to comment on the possible inclusion of Australia’s closest neighbour, with which it maintains a delicate relationship.