October 16, 2003	Thursday	Sha'aban 19, 1424

DHAKA, Oct 15: Nationals of 44 countries, including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, who plan to transit through the United Kingdom will now be required to obtain a Direct Airside Transit Visa, the British High Commission (BHC) here said on Wednesday.

The United Kingdom “will be introducing additional visa requirements for certain categories of travellers to the UK who are considered to present a high risk of remaining unlawfully or making unfounded applications for asylum”, the BHC said in a statement, adding that the tougher step will become effective on Thursday.

The new visa requirement covers travellers from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China and Ghana.

But the statement said that the United Kingdom remains committed to providing a fair system to ensure that genuine refugees get refugee status, while making it harder for those seeking to abuse the asylum system to do so.

“Legitimate travellers stand to benefit from this new regime. They will face fewer delays and can be confident that their travel will not be disrupted because of action we have to take against those who abuse our system,” the BHC said.

Sources at BHC said during 2002 some 725 Bangladeshi nationals applied for asylum in the United Kingdom. Of those, 40 arrived without documents and more than 100 with forged documents.—AFP