New device allows BI instant Interpol checks

MANILA, Philippines - Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents at all local airports and seaports are monitoring some 52 million individuals from 190 countries who are covered by an International Police (Interpol) alert to enhance the security of the coming Asia- Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) summit in Manila, an official said yesterday.

The Interpol alert included people with derogatory records, impostors and individuals whose travel documents were reported lost or stolen.

The BI has installed Mobile Interpol Network Database Devices (MIND) devices at airport and seaport arrival areas following the warning from Interpol, BI Commissioner Siegfred Mison said.

Mison and Floro Balato, head of the BI’s Board Operations Division, were briefed by Interpol agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 arrival and immigration area yesterday on the devices.

Mison said with the new devices, immigration officers at the NAIA Terminals 1, 2 and 3 could identify suspected terrorists and criminals in seconds by swiping the passport of an arriving passenger through the MIND device.

The Interpol’s device has a color-coded system of international alerts or request for cooperation.

The database has been endorsed as an important border security tool by the United Nations Security Council, G-8 European Union, International Civil Aviation Organization and by law enforcement representatives from Interpol’s 190 member-countries.