The biometric system for non-European Union citizens is causing long delays and short tempers at airports.
Report said non-EU citizens contend with a demoralising sight that has become commonplace for foreign travellers entering or leaving the European Union.
A traveller, Shoneez Sallie, in a viral video on Tuesday, decried the long queues, noting she waited for long hours at a airport in Brussels.
“Five hours in an immigration queue at Brussels Airport. This is not just about one airport; it is becoming a wider issue across parts of Europe during peak travel periods.
“Watching elderly people, families with young children and exhausted travellers stand for hours is honestly heartbreaking. We all understand security and border control are important, but waiting this long simply isn’t acceptable,” Ms Sallie said.
The development is not peculiar to Brussels alone. Reports said similar situations are manifesting in Lisbon, Amsterdam, Paris and other parts of Europe.
The incident is linked to Europe’s new biometric border system aimed at better tracking travellers and keeping out unauthorised visitors by taking their fingerprints and facial scans.
The European Commission attributed the development to technical problems, adding it was considering extending a grace period allowing airports to temporarily stop collecting key biometric data in the case of long lines.
“We are now in close, in constructive contact with nations to see what the challenges are at certain border crossing points,” spokesperson for the commission, Guillaume Mercier, said.
The updated border system is rooted in the plans by Europe to better track who travels into and out of its 29-country free-movement zone.
According to the system, anyone visiting from the outside, including from the United States and Britain, is expected to register.
However, it is clear that gathering the biometric data takes time, especially when thousands of people need to do it at once.
