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Tuesday, 1 October, 2002, 09:34 GMT 10:34 UK
US begins entry checks on Muslims
![]() There is anger at official racial and religious profiling
The United States Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) is starting to register people from selected Arab and Muslim countries on arrival into the country.
Under the new policy, immigration staff will routinely fingerprint, photograph and question potential entrants, checking their pictures and prints against criminal and terrorist databases.
The policy is aimed at preventing a repeat of the security lapses which allowed the 11 September hijackers to live undetected in the US for so long.
Scrutiny extended The measures, introduced nationwide on Tuesday, could potentially apply to any of the 35 million foreign visitors who come to the United States every year. But all citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Sudan will be targeted, and visitors - especially men - from other Muslim and Middle Eastern countries may also be subject to the new measures.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also hit back, saying the new policy was a reflection of "anti-Muslim hysteria". "Of course, I am upset," Dr Mahathir said. "Because of the acts of a few people, the whole Muslim world seems to have been labelled." Even before the new regulations took effect, Dr Mahathir's deputy Ahmad Abdullah Badawi got a taste of America's strict entry procedure, when he was asked to remove his belt and shoes at Los Angeles airport before being allowed to fly on to New York. Formal registration Since the 11 September attacks, many Middle Eastern and North African visitors have been taken to one side for questioning.
They will then have 30 days to say where they are living, working or studying. BBC New York correspondent Jane Standley says it will be hard for the US bureaucracy to keep up with the new regulations, with more than 350 air and sea ports as well as land borders to monitor.
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01 Oct 02 | Asia-Pacific
14 Aug 02 | Americas
25 Oct 02 | Americas
06 Jun 02 | Middle East
26 Jun 02 | Americas
09 Apr 02 | Americas
16 May 02 | Americas
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