Iridian Technologies and the General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police announced that the iris-based National Expellees Tracking and Border Control System has processed over one million travelers to-date.
The system was implemented to deter illegal immigrants from entering the United Arab Emirates (UAE) via air, land and sea ports of entry. To-date, the system has caught over 4,300 illegal or expelled immigrants carrying false travel documents.
"To prevent illegal immigration, the iris-based National Expellees Tracking and Border Control System supports the UAE's border inspectors and police in the decision-making process concerning the admissibility of particular travelers. This extremely accurate biometric is critical as they cannot solely rely on travel documents such as passports, visas and work permits due to counterfeiting and the fraudulent use of those documents", commented Director of Information Technology Department, General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police, Ahmed Al Raisi.
The project, which was initiated in August 2001, involves the enrollment of inmates and expellees' irises from geographically distributed deportation centers throughout the UAE into a central database at the General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police. A real-time, one-to-all iris check of arriving passengers with new visit or work visas at any UAE border point quickly reveals if that person has been previously expelled from the country. People are being enrolled from seventeen enrollment centers covering the whole of the UAE while simultaneous searches are taking place from border points, all without any interruptions or delays.
US-based Iridian Technologies commercializes software for iris recognition known as one of the most accurate biometric identifiers. The company offers security for public-use applications such as simplified passenger travel, border control, national IDs, restricted access and information access solutions. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
