LONDON
A new scheme under which information on all passengers leaving the U.K. through commercial international air, sea and rail routes will be collected and passed on to the country's Home Office has now come into effect.
According to the Home Office’s statement, the U.K.’s passenger exit check, which was scrapped by the previous labor government, comes into effect Wednesday. Data will be collected through passports and other travel documents of passengers.
The collected information was expected to provide the U.K. with the "ability to identify and further tighten the immigration routes and visas that are most vulnerable.”
It will also track criminals and terrorists.
"The checks will also improve security by helping the police and security services track the movements of known or suspected criminals and terrorists, supporting the wider work across government and our law enforcement agencies," it added.
School coach parties of European Economic Area, children under 16, would be exempt from checks.
The statement said that alternative arrangements separate from exit checks were being put in place to cover journeys made within the Common Travel Area -- journeys between the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man -- small, non-scheduled flights and non-commercial recreational boats.
Minister for Security and Immigration James Brokenshire said that the U.K.'s commitment to reintroduce exit checks would make the country more secure and better informed than ever.
More than 100 million people enter and leave the U.K. every year. Net long-term migration to the U.K. was estimated to be 298,000 by September 2014, a statistically significant increase from 210,000 in the previous 12 months, but below the peak of 320,000 in the year ending June 2005, according to the Office for National Statistics.
