European air travelers to Britain will be screened with automatic facial recognition technology from this summer in a bid to tighten security and ease congestion, the government said last week. Agent France Presse reports that all European Economic Area countries will pass through unmanned clearance gates which will scan passengers' faces and compare them to data held on their biometric passports.

" Britain 's border security is now among the toughest in the world and tougher checks do take time, but we don't want long waits," junior Home Office (interior ministry) minister Liam Byrne said. "So the UK Borders Agency will soon be testing new automatic gates for British and European Economic Area citizens. We will test them this year and if they work, put them at all key ports."

According to The Guardian newspaper, the technology being used has been programmed to err on the side of caution to ensure that travelers on security services' watch lists are not allowed to freely pass through.  Because of that, some innocent passengers may be held up and redirected if the clearance gates cannot match their faces to the records on their passports.

The newspaper said the government had not yet decided on how many airports would take part in the initial trial this year.   A Home Office spokesman told AFP that the ministry would publish details of how the technology worked, as well as where and when it would be deployed 'in the near future', but did not elaborate.  

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Immigrant support groups have welcomed the publication of a Government strategy which aims to improve the integration of non-nationals into Irish society and avoid problems experienced by other countries, Dublin ’s The Irish Times reports.  The statement - entitled Migration Nation - lists a range of policies and key principles that will guide Government policy on the issue. It is the first such statement by the Office of the Minister for Integration since it was established last year.

Among the key elements of the strategy is the streamlining the asylum process. In addition, it calls for new laws to help skilled migrants to enter the Irish workforce and increased measures to help prevent the exploitation of foreign workers.  It also calls for the establishment of a formal pathway to permanent residency and citizenship for immigrants. However, citizenship will linked to applicants’ ability to speak English.