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Deputy PM opposes visitor bond proposal

Published:Monday | September 16, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Government troopers arrive with more supplies as they continue with their offensive against Muslim rebels yesterday in Zamboanga city, southern Philippines. The standoff, which began last Monday when about 200 Moro National Liberation Front guerrillas stormed several coastal communities in Zamboanga city and seized several residents, displaced more than 60,000, forced the closure of businesses, and resulted in more than 50 deaths so far. AP

LONDON (AP):

Britain's deputy prime minister disclosed yesterday that he will try to block any attempt to make foreign visitors routinely pay a security deposit to come to the United Kingdom, an idea that has spurred outrage in countries such as India and Nigeria.

The government plans to begin a pilot project in November involving 'high-risk' countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Some visitors will have to pay a £3,000 ($4,800) deposit, which will be refunded upon departure but forfeited if travelers overstay their visas.

Officials and business people in the affected countries have condemned the proposal, and the British government has not said how many visa applicants will have to pay the bond.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said his Liberal Democrat party and its Conservative coalition partners had "differences of emphasis" on the plan, and details were still being discussed in government.

"I am absolutely not interested in a bond which becomes an indiscriminate way of clobbering people who want to come to this country," Clegg told the BBC. He said the bonds "are certainly not going to go ahead" on that basis.

"Of course, in a coalition I can stop things," he added.

sensitive issue

Immigration is a sensitive political issue in Britain, especially with the unemployment and austerity measures brought on by the economic crisis. Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to cut net immigration from 252,000 a year in 2010 to below 100,000 a year by 2015.