WESTERN BUREAU:

The luxury of spending 24 hours in a British airport en route to a third country visa free came to an abrupt end a few months ago, the British High Commission here has confirmed.

Locals travelling through the United Kingdom (UK) to Germany, France or other European countries must now acquire an in-transit permit ahead of their trip.

This new arrangement is in addition to the existing UK visa regime which began in 2003 in Jamaica. This regime had provided a visa-free concession for Jamaican nationals in transit within 24 hours through the UK.

Having failed Britain's new Visa Waiver Test earlier this year, Jamaicans are now the only people in the Caribbean who must obtain a direct airside transit visa (DATV) in order to connect to flights through the UK to onward destinations.

A number of Jamaican travellers who are unaware of the change are being turned back at the Heathrow airport in London, airlines sources have told The Sunday Gleaner.

Checks made with the British High Commission revealed that Jamaicans are considered a potential risk to England, in terms of illegal immigration, crime and security, falling in line with nations such as the war-torn Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Eastern Europe's Albania, Latin-America's Colombia and Ecuador and West Africa's Ghana and Nigeria.

Asia's India and China are also on the list of Britain's high-risk countries.

More money

As a result, if Jamaicans are travelling to Germany via England, they are now required to fork out $7,400 and follow the same requirements for every other type of visa at the Worldbridge Visa Application Centre in Kingston.

The UK's visa check now requires everyone to be fingerprinted, locking them to one identity, and checked against government watchlists. They are then screened and counted in and out of the UK using the UK Border Agency's (UKAB) £1.2 billion electronic border system.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is currently investigating the issue.

"The ministry has not received any reports of Jamaicans without the requisite visa being returned, or of any airlines refusing to board in-transit visitors without such visas. However, we will be fully investigating the matter," Communications Director Wilton Dyer told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.

Finding the development disquieting and very concerning, Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs Anthony Hylton said it was disappointing to hear that the overwhelming majority of Jamaicans who are law-abiding citizens will now be subjected to further restrictions of the privilege to travel and access transit countries in this period of globalisation.

He said a number of these people have to travel to work or vacation, yet the travel privileges are going in the wrong direction. He is urging the British to cooperate more with the Jamaican Government in isolating the wrongdoers rather than punishing law-abiding Jamaicans.

"It's contrary to what the country needs at this point of its development. We have to be even more concerned when we realise that our transport network passes either through the US or the UK to access the rest of the world. When you start to have a narrowing of access, the implications are quite far-reaching."

Sydian Brissett, communications manager at the British High Commission, said the UKBA found that 11 countries fell short of the required standard and, along with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has worked closely to improve the passport and border control systems.

"With the mitigation period over, it was decided visas checks would now be needed to stop fraudulent attempts to enter Britain from six of these countries," said Brissett.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com