Fingerprints will be used to deter false asylum applications

A six-month pilot scheme is due to begin this month at the British Diplomatic Mission in Colombo.

Information will be stored on a database and shared with police and other law enforcement agencies, said a Home Office spokesman.

The aim is to identify the "significant number" of Sri Lankans who make fraudulent asylum or immigration applications under a false identity after arriving in Britain on a visa, Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes said.

It would also help to return failed asylum seekers who destroy their passports or other documents in a bid to slow down the deportation process, she added.

The move follows Britain's recent tightening of visa requirements for transit passengers from 16 countries, and the requirement for Jamaicans to possess a visa to enter Britain; previously they only needed a valid passport.

"We are working towards the wider use of physical data like fingerprints or iris recognition in all parts of the immigration process and have already announced our intention to include biometrics in UK passports by 2005," said Ms Hughes.

This is not about creating a 'fortress Britain' Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes

"We have to deal with the issue of those who deliberately seek to destroy their documents before going on to make asylum claims under a false identity or to frustrate their return to their home country."

She added: "This is not about creating a 'fortress Britain'. It is about bearing down on those who would abuse our immigration and asylum system."

Pilot scheme

The minister said Sri Lanka has been selected for the pilot scheme as Sri Lankan nationals continue to make significant numbers of unfounded asylum applications - and to use false identities in the process.

"The Sri Lankan government is co-operating with us fully in this visa operation," she added.

The French Government is already in the advanced stages of passing a law requiring foreign visitors applying for visas to be fingerprinted.

The proposal has already been accepted by cabinet and is due to go before the French Parliament for approval.

It will require any tourist visa applicant visiting French consulates abroad to have their fingerprints taken. Information would then be stored in a databank in Paris.

The only exceptions would be European Union, US and Japanese citizens who do not need a visa to enter France.