UK Border Agency runs week long PR roadshow

The UK Border Agency has, with a unique sense of timing, launched a massive public relations exercise. The UKBA is the agency for ensuring that the British immigration system is followed and monitors the countries migration and workforce to weed out any illegal residents or workers. Ironically, the PR push came in a week which saw the UK’s highest ranking lawyer, Lady Scotland, ashamedly revealed she was not aware of employing an illegal immigrant.

The scandal over the Baronesses Tongan-born housekeeper Loloahi Tapui has cost the attorney general £5,000 and a large amount of public credibility, and recent high-profile raids on restaurants and people-smuggling operations have all combined to place some unwanted attention on the UKBA.

The reaction was to hold a number of UKBA roadshows in the south of England inside county fairs to show the public the friendly yet firm face of border control. The events were featured in the UKBA’s Interact newsletter and were highlighted by the hand-cuffing of pensioners, finger-printing of children and even entire families locked up in cell vans to get a taste of what it means to cross the agency. The UKBA claimed its aim in promoting the events was to dispel some of the myths over immigration officials.

The events took place in the Hampshire towns of New Forest and Kent, hardly hotbeds of illegal immigration, and allowed the public to play UKBA officials as many queued up to place parents or neighbours into agency wagons. The sight of officials fully clad in battle gear was met with understandable hesitancy by the public who soon warmed to the task of playing dress-up and making arrests. Children meanwhile took in a spot of fingerprint painting.

The shows were hailed as a success by the UKBA who claim that results from the public indicated they had improved their standing and raised the opinion of the work they do. The events were not met with such joy from migrant support groups who queried whether locking people up, handcuffing OAP’s and fingerprinting toddlers was the best way to get the message across