COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
to the terminal buildings. Lanes are divided between Staff / Cars & Vans / Vans & Buses
/ Tourist buses / Taxis. Air Force personnel manning the checkpoint approach each
vehicle and ascertain if the occupants are passengers, staff or visitors. Pedestrians are
also checked. Departing passengers often have to produce confirmation of ticketing
and/or a passport. Staff must produce their airport ID card. Sri Lankan visitors to the
airport, including drivers, often have to produce their national ID card. The registration
numbers of all vehicles are written manually into a register. During heightened security
situations e.g. conferences, state visits etc., the number of checkpoints may increase
along roads leading to the airport, especially along the main A3 from Colombo. The
police or the military can man these.‖
25.19 The same BHC letter 509 continued:
―The airport is split into two main terminal buildings; departure and arrivals. The
departure area is restricted to departing passengers, staff, and visitors holding a ‗day
pass‘ issued from an adjacent ticket booth. Persons obtaining a ‗day pass‘ have to
produce a copy of their ID card or passport or driving licence, plus present the original
document. Their details are recorded manually in a register. Before entering the
departure terminal a security guard requires evidence of airline ticketing (and
sometimes passports), staff ID cards or a day pass. Persons not holding these
documents are not allowed into to the departure terminal. Immediately behind the
security guard there are security checks where all bags and belongings are passed
through scanners. All persons then pass through a scanner. Regardless of whether or
not the detector alarm is activated, persons are then frisked by a security guard. Both
male and female security staff are stationed at each checkpoint. Having passed through
these security checks, persons walk through a long corridor and into the main departure
area.
―From the departure area there are three security entrances to the check-in area. The
gate to the right caters for passengers departing on Sri Lankan Airlines; the gate to the
left is for passengers on all other airlines and the gate in between is for staff only. The
security guards ask passengers for evidence of ticketing and will only allow persons to
pass who have produced this. Persons holding a ‗day pass‘ are not allowed into the
check-in area. Immediately behind these security checks, a sign indicates ‗Customs‘. A
customs officer is often seen in the vicinity, but it is not a permanent presence.
Likewise, there are scanners for baggage but these are rarely seen in operation.‖
25.20 The same source 510 added:
―At the check-in desks, passengers have to produce their passports to airline staff and
go through check-in procedures. Airline check-in staff routinely check the identity of the
person against the passport details, the validity of the passport, and if the passenger
has the appropriate visa for their country of destination or transit. Having checked-in,
passengers then proceed to a security gate, where they produce their passport and
boarding card in order to enter the Department of Immigration & Emigration (DIE) area.
All passengers must complete a departure card and then queue at an immigration
officer‘s desk. Passengers must present their passport, departure card and boarding
pass to the immigration officer. The immigration officer scans the details page of the
passport on the DIE Border Control System database. Three scanned images of the
509 British High Commission Colombo, letter dated 5 January 2012
510 British High Commission Colombo, letter dated 5 January 2012
196 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.