Today’s Home Office media stories include misdirected passengers at UK airports and claims the Telegram is being used as a mouthpiece for terrorism.
Misdirected passengers
The Telegraph, Mail, Express, Mirror and Star, report on the number of “misdirected” passengers coming through the UK border each year. The papers report that up to 11,000 passengers in the last five years have entered the UK without going through passport control, because they were sent the wrong way upon arrival.
Most of the papers carry our statement, which makes clear that all misdirected passengers are subsequently returned to border control or, where this is not possible, retrospectively checked against security and immigration watch lists.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
"The security of our border is paramount — which is why 100 per cent of scheduled passengers are checked when arriving in the UK.
"It is the responsibility of airlines and airport operators to ensure that passengers arriving in the UK are directed through the correct prescribed route for these checks to be completed so passengers can be cleared for entry to the UK by Border Force.
“While the overwhelming majority of arriving passengers are properly presented at border control, there are still a relatively small but unacceptable number of cases each year where passengers are misdirected. These people are identified and the necessary checks carried out, but this adds an unnecessary administrative burden.”
"We are determined to eradicate these errors and believe a civil penalty is a vital tool in ensuring this happens. We are currently considering the contributions to the consultation on the proposed introduction of such a penalty and continue to work with airlines and airport operators on all areas of security.”
"Mouthpiece" for terrorism app
The Telegraph reports on comments by the Home Secretary that a messaging app through which a British Daesh supporter urged his followers to target Prince George is a “mouthpiece” for terrorism. The papers report that Husnain Rashid, 32, was told yesterday he could face life behind bars after changing his plea to guilty for a string of terror offences at Woolwich Crown Court. They report he sent 300,000 hate-filled messages via the Telegram app, which allows end to end encryption of messages.
Home Secretary, Sajid Javid said:
“The UK is leading international work to make sure internet companies take a proactive approach to terrorist content on their platforms. We have been clear that some platforms, such as Telegram, have not been doing enough. If companies do not want to be a mouthpiece for the vile ideology of Daesh then they need to act now.”