Nobody likes to wait in the queues at airport immigration counters. At peak hours, the delay getting through the controls at Kai Tak can add appreciably to the journey time. Steps to deal more swiftly with passengers are, therefore, welcome - but, as we report on page one today, a side-effect of putting more staff on to the immigration counters has been to run down the undercover unit which used to check on the use of fake documents sold to people moving through the airport on their way from China to North America, Australia and other destinations.
At the same time, the number of people coming through Hong Kong's airport with fake passports and visas appears to be surging, propelling the territory into Canada's list of the 10 highest risk embarkation points for illegal entrants. So this seems a particularly bad time to disband the undercover unit.
The fake documentation is mainly supplied to people from Shanghai or Fujian province; so this is an obvious opportunity for police co-operation between the territory and mainland. Consulates of destination countries, and immigration services there, should also be involved. Some legal points need attention - it appears that, as things stand, illegal immigrants caught by airport security guards and handed over to consulate officers often have to have false travel documents returned to get them out of Hong Kong.
A further cause for concern arises from the fear that the British National (Overseas) travel document issued to Hong Kong residents will become a 'passport of convenience' for forgers and smugglers after 1997.
But there is an immediate step which the Immigration Department can take - though, by its nature, this is not something which it may wish to broadcast to the world, and to those who profit from this illegal trade.
The decision to disband the 20-person specialist team which used to stake out the transit areas at Kai Tak where the switch of documents usually occurs should be reversed without delay, in the interests of law-and-order and of Hong Kong's good international name.
