Border security checks must avoid discrimination

As terrorism threatens visa-free travel, there should be no prejudice against specific nations or religions

The free movement of people from country to country has always been a challenge, as criminals seek to use the same freedoms as business people and tourists. This is why we have all accepted passport checks and eye scans as part of life, just as we have come to think of it as normal to take off our shoes and belts just to get on a plane, and even accept having our bags searched when we go into a mall or building.

It looks as though the Americans will soon remove the right to visa-free entry to the United States for anyone who has entered Syria or Iraq in the past five years. And it is unfortunate that this will apply to both the innocent nephew who has visited his aunt in Basra as well as the terrorist who has been to a camp in the desert.

Europeans are struggling with the gaping holes in the Schengen Agreement that allow free movement to both residents and visitors across all 26 nations — both in and outside the European Union — but do not allow the 26 security services free access to all data on all movements in all the Schengen states.

Clearly, every nation has the right to make sure that it knows who has entered its boundaries and to try and keep out the evildoers. But the rush to strengthen border security should not mean that movement is stopped and should certainly avoid any prejudice or discrimination towards particular nations or religions.