Netherlands Antilles Justice Minister pledges enhanced use of INTERPOL tools to protect borders

LYON, France, Suara Indonesia News – Law enforcement officers at border points across the Netherlands Antilles are to be given access to INTERPOL’s global database on Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) to enhance national and regional security.

During a visit to the INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters, Minister of Justice for the Netherlands Antilles, Mr David A. Dick announced that by early 2009, all visitors entering the country would have their travel documents checked against INTERPOL’s database of nearly 16 million entries from 137 countries.“Giving our immigration, customs and police agencies direct access to the INTERPOL database through our Border Management System infrastructure will provide another significant layer of security not just for the citizens of the Netherlands Antilles, but for the million and half visitors who come each year,” said Minister Dick.

“The connection of the Netherlands Antilles border control points to the INTERPOL database follows the successes seen by Caribbean region since they linked to the system for the Cricket World Cup, and I shall be speaking with my counterparts in the ministries in Aruba and Surinam to promote the system and encourage their participation in the near future.”

The system devised and implemented by INTERPOL means that border control officers carrying out standard checks are instantly alerted if a person is travelling on a document recorded as lost or stolen internationally, without the need to conduct a separate search.

“The value of providing direct access to INTERPOL’s database to officers on the ground has been proven time and time again and I am pleased that law enforcement in the Netherlands Antilles will also soon be able to take advantage of this vital policing tool,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

Currently 33 INTERPOL member countries provide direct access to the SLTD database to national law enforcement officers. So far in 2008 nearly 50 million searches have been conducted worldwide resulting in more than 9,000 people being identified as travelling on stolen or lost passports.