National

Electronic Passport to be Implemented in Asia and Europe
Wednesday, 07 December, 2005 | 17:16 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Denpasar, Bali:Indonesia together with 37 Asian and European countries have agreed to replace the current passport with electronic passports. The participants of Asia-Europe’s Immigration Directorate Generals’ Meeting held in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday (06/12) put the target of 2010 in implementing this new policy.

“The electronic passport will consist of full-face photographs, fingerprints and a photo of the eye retina of passport owners,” said Immigration Director-General Iman Santoso.

The new passport using biometric technology is looked at as a specific individual identity that cannot be falsified. The electronic passport in Indonesia will be implemented starting next year through microchips.

The equipment will reveal the activities and the whereabouts of the passport holders. The information on the passport holder’s whereabouts will be connected to the monitoring center of two countries: country of origin and destination countries. “The immigration officers of the destination countries will verify whoever debarks after the passport holders go through check-in,” stated Santoso.

Indonesian Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin said that this technology was expected to be able to pick out anyone who has been involved in trans-national crimes. “The new technology is also aimed at fighting terrorism, drug dealers and money-laundering activities,” Awaluddin stated in his speech.

However, not all countries sending their representatives to the meeting can adopt this new technology. The huge amount of money, including the establishment of software and citizens’ database exchange, hampers its implementation.

According to Santoso, every country has information restriction on what can be and cannot be acknowledged by other countries. Therefore, in the fourth ASEM meeting, Santoso hoped that all member countries would be able to have the same perception on this matter.

The meeting will also discuss the issue of illegal immigrants, refugee status that is no longer under the monitoring of UN like UNHCR, the exchange of information such as immigration intelligence and border control management. (Rilla Nugraheni-Tempo News Room)