Travellers arriving and departing Singapore by sea or land may have their thumbprints scanned at immigration checkpoints from tomorrow, as part of ongoing efforts to boost the country’s security levels.

The BioScreen system will be rolled out progressively at passenger halls of all sea and land checkpoints, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) yesterday. This comes after a successful year-long trial at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal that has seen more than 120,000 travellers go through the new system since last April, ICA said.

In the months ahead, BioScreen will also be rolled out at the air checkpoints here, the ICA said.

… Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna, head of policy studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the move “makes sense”, given that “Singapore remains an iconic target”.

He said: “Biometric technology is a crucial enabling technology that is available now and hence should be exploited, especially since the threat from transnational terrorist groups like ISIS has heightened at this point in time.”