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| Wednesday, 6 August 2003 |
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State have suspended two programs that allowed certain international air passengers to travel through the United States for transit purposes without first obtaining a visa. The programmes known as the Transit Without Visa program (TWOV) and the International-to-International transit program (ITI), have been suspended. The action took effect on Saturday August 2, U.S. citizens or citizens from visa waiver countries are not effected, the release said. Head of consular activities at the U.S. Embassy in Colombo Marc H. Williams said that "This change in regulations should have a negligible impact on Sri Lankan and Maldivian travellers. To our knowledge, only a handful of Sri Lankans and Maldivians used the Transit Without Visa programme last year. Our visa operations continue to provide prompt and courteous service to the public". Homeland Security issued instructions to all airlines to no longer allow passengers to utilize these transit programs. Homeland Security agencies are also taking additional steps to increase security at airports and on airplanes that normally transport and process passengers under these programs. These new measures are in addition to significant increases in aviation security implemented since September 11 such as reinforced cockpit doors, deployment of federal air marshals, enhanced federalised baggage and passenger screening and armed Federal Flight Deck Officers piloting some jetliners. It is the intention of both Departments to reinstate the TWOV and ITI programs as soon as additional security measures can be implemented to safeguard the programs from terrorists who wish to gain access to the U.S. or U.S. airspace without going through the consular screening process. Officials have already begun this process of identifying possible steps that could be taken to further secure the transit programs. Recent specific intelligence indicates that terrorist groups have been planning to exploit these transit programmes to gain access to the US or US airspace without going through the consular screening process. These steps are designed to augment security against possible terrorist threats and to protect U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who fly into and out of the United States, the release said. |
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