Controversies

Certain border control policies of various countries have been the subject of controversy and public debate.

Immigrant investor programmesedit

Immigrant investor programmes, pejoratively referred to as golden visas, are border control policies designed to attract foreign capital and business people by providing the right of residence and citizenship in return. These are also known as citizenship-by-investment programmes. While several countries currently offer investors citizenship or residence in return for an economic investment, the concept is relatively new and was only brought to the focusclarification needed around 2006. The roots of such programmes have been traced back to the 1980s when tax havens in the Pacific and Caribbean began "cash-for-passport" programmes that facilitated visa-free travel and provided tax advantages. For example, in 1984, St Kitts and Nevis began its programme which offered not only permanent residency but citizenship to foreign nations. The issuing of golden visas has expanded dramatically during the 21st century, with around 25% of all countries issuing such visas as of 2015. Statistics on the issuing of golden visas ares scarce, but the IMF estimated in 2015 that the vast majority of golden visas are issued to Chinese nationals.

Immigrant investor programmes usually have multiple criteria that must be fulfilled for the investment to qualify, often pertaining to job creation, purchasing of real estate, non-refundable contributions or specific targeted industries. Most of these programmes are structured to ensure that the investment contributes to the welfare, advancement and economic development of the country in which the applicant wishes to reside or belong to. It is more often more about making an economic contribution than just an investment. The United States EB-5 visa programme requires overseas applicants to invest a minimum of anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million, depending on the location of project, and requires at least 10 jobs to be either created or preserved. When these criteria are met, the applicant and their family become eligible for a green card. There is an annual cap of 10,000 applications under the EB-5 arrangement. Some countries such as Malta and Cyprus also offer citizenship ("so-called golden passports") to individuals if they invest a certain sum. Greece's Golden Visa Program. The current investment threshold is 250,000 EUR for the purchase or long-term lease of property. This arrangement offers a permanent residence permit and free entry to the EU and Schengen Area to aliens, as long as they retain ownership of the investment property. The Malta Individual Investor Programme, which Henley & Partners was contracted in 2014 by the Government of Malta to design and implement, is similarly capped at 1,800 applicants. Applicants are subject to a thorough due diligence process which guarantees that only reputable applicants acquire Maltese citizenship. Moreover, applications from countries where international sanctions apply may not be accepted. Applications from a particular country can also be excluded on the basis of a Government policy decision. The minimum investment for this programme is $870,000 with a non-refundable contribution of $700,000. Portugal's golden visa was introduced during the Great Recession in order to help attract investment in the country's housing market. By 2016 the country had issued 2,788 golden visas, of which 80% had gone to Chinese nationals. A large majority of users of such programmes are wealthy Chinese seeking legal security and a better quality of life outside their home country. More than three-quarters of the applicants to Canada's (since cancelled) immigrant investor programme were Chinese. The Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme is a Canadian programme which allows investors who intend to settle in the province of Quebec to invest money in Canada. The Quebec government said it would accept a maximum of 1,750 applications to the Immigrant Investor Programme during the period from January 5 to 20, 2015. Applicants with an intermediate-advanced knowledge of French are not subject to the cap, and may apply at any time. The programme has been associated with the lack of housing affordability in Vancouver. The countries with the top rankedby whom? immigrant investor programmes in the world are Malta, Cyprus, Portugal, Austria, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Spain, Latvia, Monaco, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Grenada, Abkhazia, Saint Lucia, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dominica.

The issuing of so-called golden visas has sparked controversy in several countries. A lack of demonstrable economic benefits, and security concerns, have been among the most common criticisms of golden visas. In 2014 the Canadian government suspended their golden visa programme (although, as of 2017, Quebec maintains their own golden visa programme). The golden visas has been criticised by members of the European Parliament for disfavouringclarification needed the concept of citizenship and in 2014 the European Parliament approved a non-binding resolution that an EU passport should not have a "price tag".

Discriminatory practicesedit

Discriminatory border control practices by numerous jurisdictions have attracted controversy.

United Statesedit

Since the implementation of added security measures in the aftermath of the 2001 World Trade Centre attacks, reports of discrimination against people perceived to be Muslim by U.S. border security officers have been prevalent in the media. The travel restrictions implemented during the Trump presidency primarily against Muslim majority countries have provoked controversy over whether such measures are a legitimate Border security measure or unethically discriminatory.

Bhutanedit

Starting primarily in the 1990s, the Bhutanese government implemented strict restrictions on Nepali residents and implemented internal border control policies to restrict immigration or return of ethnic Nepalis. This policy shift effectively ended previously liberal immigration policies with regards to Nepalis and counts amongst the most racialised border control policies in Asia.

Israeledit

Border control, both on entry and on exit, at Israeli airports rate passengers' potential threat to security using factors including nationality, ethnicity, and race. Instances of discrimination against Arabs, people perceived to be Muslim, and Russian Jews amongst others have been reported in the media. Security at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport relies on a number of fundamentals, including a heavy focus on what Raphael Ron, former director of security at Ben Gurion, terms the "human factor", which he generalised as "the inescapable fact that terrorist attacks are carried out by people who can be found and stopped by an effective security methodology." As part of its focus on this so-called "human factor," Israeli security officers interrogate travellers, profiling those who appear to be Arab based on name or physical appearance. Even as Israeli authorities argue that racist, ethnic, and religious profiling are effective security measures, according to Boaz Ganor, Israel has not undertaken any known empirical studies on the efficacy of the technique of racial profiling.

Australian offshore detention centresedit

Beginning in 2001, Australia implemented border control policies featuring the detention of asylum seekers and economic migrants who arrived unlawfully by boat in nearby islands in the Pacific. These policies are controversial and in 2017 the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea declared the detention centre at Manus Island to be unconstitutional. The adherence of these policies to international human rights law is a matter of controversy.

North Korean refugees in Chinaedit

China does not currently recognise North Korean defectors as refugees and subjects them to immediate deportation if caught. The China-DPRK border is fortified and both sides aim to deter refugees from crossing. This aspect of Chinese border control policy has been criticised by human rights organisations.

Restrictions on Northern Cypriot airspaceedit

As a result of Northern Cyprus's sovereignty dispute with Southern Cyprus, the South (a member of the European Union) has imposed restrictions on the North's airports, and pressure from the European Union has resulted in all countries other than Turkey recognising the South's ability to impose a border shutdown on the North, thus negating the right to self determination of the predominantly Turkish Northern Cypriot population and subjecting their airports to border controls imposed by the predominantly Greek South. As a result, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic support and is unable to develop a functioning economy.