Stolen passports:

Tougher penalties, to nab offenders the world over

By Manjula FERNANDO

Stolen or lost passports merits immediate attention. It could be on its way into the hands of a terrorist. Stolen passports are commonly used for illegal migration, cross border transnational crimes, as well as money laundering or terrorist causes all of which call for tougher penalties in any part of the world.

If the stolen or lost passports are not reported immediately to the law enforcing authorities, you may have to be a respondent in a criminal case in which you had no hand in or turn up being a victim of impersonation that may put you in trouble to get out of.

A special media interaction was organised last week to caution the public on the importance of protecting their travel documents, one of the most important documents one will own that certifies the identity and nationality of the holder for international travel.

Since 1975 to date the Immigration and Emigration Department has issued nine million passports and they are currently in circulation.

In 2011, nearly 9,250 ‘All Countries’ passports and 17,250 ‘Middle-East Countries’ passports have been reported lost.

With effect from August 1 this year, the Immigration and Emigration Department introduced new complaints procedures for stolen or lost passports. The public is requested to strictly follow the new procedures to avoid inconvenience. Your passport is your key to travel around the world but it can also be the key to a fraudster or a terrorist to enter a foreign State under disguise should it fall into the wrong hands, cautions the Immigration and Emigration Controller General, Chulananda Perera.

It contains a lot of information about which can be used bycriminals to build up, perhaps not a full picture, but certainly aworking framework on which to find out more about you to use your persona for unscrupulous activity.Passports are increasingly used for Bank frauds as well.

Since it is a means of providing identification to banks and other financial institutions, a widely accepted method in Sri Lankan banks as well, the fraudsters make use of it to draw money from banks by sinister means.

Finally when the news reaches you, that you have unsettled debts of which you knew nothing of, it will be too late.

The Controller General said, Sri Lankan passports are held in high esteem by many countries but fraudulent use may reverse it and reduce international confidence despite many security featuresintroduced by the Department in recent times to enhance its goodname.

This will result in grave implications for Sri Lankan citizens travelling overseas, such as unnecessary delays in airports to mention one.

‘The passport needs to be treated as gold’, cautions the Controller General implying that it has to be kept in the safest place in the house where only immediate family members have access to. Leaving it around the house or workplace, if such places are frequented by strangers, was unwise.

The Immigration authorities also advise against sending the passport via the postal system where there is a chance of misplacement. When on holiday or overseas the passport should be kept close or in a safety deposit box, it should never be left in the luggage or in a place clearly visible to strangers.

Funded by the Canadian Government and with technical assistance from the International Organization of Migrants (IOM), a Lost and Stolen Travel Document Data Base has been set up by the Immigration Department in keeping with international requirements to prevent such documents being misused. The objective is to enhance the credibility of Lankan passports.

The Controller General said they were in the process of collecting data of all lost or stolen passports and to effect the cancellation of those which have not been reported so far. The new system helps the information of these documents and their cancellation to be shared by immigration authorities worldwide through interpol to block the misuse of passports anywhere in the world at any given time.

The system has linked police stations, Police headquarters, the Immigration Department and Interpol. If someone uses a Lankan cancelled passport anywhere in the world, an alarm will be generated to alert the authorities.

Failure to report lost or stolen passport will result in your document being used for unscrupulous activity. In such instances you may be liable for aiding and abetting an offence

Lost or stolen passports in Sri Lanka. What to do?

* Immediately report the incident to Immigration Department hotline 0115329501.

Operators will accept calls from 8.30am to 4.30pm, Monday through Friday except government holidays.

*Make a complaint to your local police
* The police will transmit the details of your call to the Immigration Department.
* Action will be taken to invalidate the passport.
* Details of cancellation will be shared worldwide through Interpol.

Lost overseas

* Lodge a complaint to your local police and obtain a report.
* Download a stolen or lost passport complaint form by visitingwww.immigration.gov.lk. Submit the duly filled complaint form together with the Police report to the nearest Sri Lankan mission in that country.
* Details will be transmitted to the Immigration Department.

More information of the new procedure can be obtained by visiting

www.immigration.gov.lk