ABU DHABI, 20 Sep, 04 (WAM) - Through the eye-scanning system, the immigrationauthorities have caught around 10,000 foreigners attempting to enter thecountry illegally, since the technology was introduced around two yearsago, according to a senior official.
The arrests were made between October 2002 and August this year at variousports of the country, said Brigadier Hadhir Khalaf Al Muhairi, Director-Generalof Naturalisation and Residence General Directorate.
Brig. Muhairi said the eye-scanning system which has been fitted by theMinistry of Interior at the country's airports, border and sea exit pointshelped to detect this large number of violators of immigration law whowere attempting to re-enter the country on fake or new travel documentsafter getting their original passports stamped with the six-month ban.
"The modern technology has foiled attempts of these law violators tore-enter the country. This was also possible through round-the-clock monitoringof police bodies of the country's entry points," Brig. Muhairi stated.
Lt-Col Ahmed Nassir Al Raysi, Director of Information Technology (IT)Department of Abu Dhabi Police said those who were refused entry to thecountry included banned foreigners who returned with new travel documentswith different data from their previous passports details. They were caughtat several entry points and were returned to their home countries. Hesaid the UAE had taken the lead in introducing the eye-scanning as thesystem has been introduced at 32 entry points.
Lt-Col Raysi said the system provides Abu Dhabi Police with many advantagesincluding curbing fraud, impersonation and return of foreigners bannedfrom entering the country or illegal departure of black-listed foreigners.
According to scientists, iris-recognition technology was designed tobe less intrusive than retina scans, which often require infrared raysor bright light to get an accurate reading. Scientists also say a person'sretina can change with age, while an iris remains intact. And no two irisblueprints are mathematically alike, even in case of identical twins ortriplets.
According to Lt-Col Rays, in order to record an individual's iris code,a camera zooms in on the eye and grabs a sharp image of the iris. A low-levelincandescent light illuminates the iris so that the camera can focus onit. One of the frames is then digitised and stored in a PC database ofenrolled users. The whole procedure takes less than a few seconds andcan be fully computerised. Contrary to what is commonly believed, contactlenses, even coloured ones, do not interfere with the process. In addition,recent medical advances such as refractive surgery, cataract surgery andcornea transplants do not change the iris' characteristics. In fact, itis impossible to modify the iris without risking blindness. And even ablind person can participate. Even a sightless eye having an iris canbe identified by the iris scanning.
