AIRPORT blunders have allowed more than 1,000 passengers over the last three years to enter the UK without going through passport control, the Home Office has revealed.
The errors took place after travellers who had just landed at a UK airport were accidentally sent the wrong way through the terminal buildings, sidestepping passport and immigration controls.
Airlines and airports have the responsibility for correctly directing international passengers towards immigration control and can be fined for any mistakes.
Often the cause is believed to be human error in that the wrong doors are left open at the arrival gates so that passengers end up slipping around the normal passport and immigration controls.
Home Office figures show there were a total of 574 passengers who slipped into the country in this way last year, up significantly on the 142 in 2021 and the 420 in 2020, when international air travel was severely restricted by the pandemic.
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It is thought that some of these misdirected passengers will be found and brought back through passport control but it is admitted that some are able to leave the airport without being checked.
Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said: ““While the numbers are relatively small, they are still disquieting. And, for once, the Home Office is not to blame.
“Border security is not just down to the Border Force, those responsible for airport and ferry port estates must play their part too and not allow complacency to take hold in the way it appears to have regarding these serious lapses.”
An Airport Operators Association spokesperson said: “These numbers make up 1/4000th of one per cent of the total number of passengers handled by UK airports over this time and as such are not representative of a major issue.
“They are a result of ordinary passengers taking a wrong turn, and once the mistake has been noted it is corrected in most cases, with them then going through passport control.
“Airports, of course, constantly monitor their procedures and are always seeking continuous improvement, and will do so in this case, but we must keep these things in perspective.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We do not comment on operational matters.”
