All visitors to UAE have photographs taken on entry

Dubai: Residents and visitors to the country are having their photos taken at ports of entry in a measure aimed at boosting security, said a senior Ministry of Interior official.

Brigadier Obaid Muhair Bin Surour said the photographs are being taken "in a non-intrusive manner" as part of security and safety arrangements.

"This photograph system started two months ago and their photographs are being taken while they are passing through," he said.

Brig. Bin Surour said this will help reduce the number of forged passports. "This will help give us full and accurate data about visitors and residents entering the country," he said.

"Dubai started a security system called the Expertise Centre Identity and Fraud Documents (ECID) to combat identity fraud and document fraud at both the national and international levels," he said.

Dubai sees a large number of transit passengers every year. Brig. Bin Surour said forged passports seized at the airport are mainly from transit passengers on their way to European countries.

"Most of them are aiming to immigrate to a European country," he said.

Forged passports

He said some people who use forged passports to leave their countries to another country could do that for security reasons in their countries, sometimes for financial issues.

Brig. Bin Surour said that people who use dual passports are allowed here in the UAE.

"It is not our issue if a person is holding dual passports if his or her country allows dual passports, but our issue here is that the person is using an original passport in our country," he said.

Brig. Bin Surour added that the person here can use one passport only.

He said ECID stores data of travel documents and ID cards from more than 20 countries.

Courtesy : GulfNews, Oct 18,2010

Photo : Brigadier Bin Surour (second from left) with other officials inspect the Expertise Centre Identity and Fraud Documents. Officials from other countries come to the centre for training.Image Credit: BASSMA AL JANDALY/Gulf News