The unsuccessful program had reportedly cost £190,000
21st June 2011: The UK’s immigration agency has done away with the largely criticized system of using DNA to verify the nationality claims of asylum seekers.
The development is significant as the UK police was in line of fire since long for allegedly arresting people, non-whites in particular, to record their DNA profiles on a national database.
The unsuccessful program had reportedly cost £190,000.
An independent government advisory body, the Human Genetics Commission, had earlier asserted there was some evidence to suggest that people were arrested to retain the DNA information, even though they might not have been arrested in other circumstances.
The commission report said the DNA profiles of 75 per cent of all non-white males in Britain figured in the database. This had risked stigmatizing a whole section of society.
In fact, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission had asserted the proportion of black men on the database gave the impression one race group represented an "alien wedge" of criminality.
In its report, the genetics commission had rather criticized the gradual development of the database and has questioned its efficacy in helping the police to investigate and solve crimes.
Black Mental Health has already demanded deletion of innocent record from police databases.
DNA profiles of 37 per cent of black men are estimated to be on the National DNA Database
Supported by GeneWatch UK and other community organisations, BMH UK’s campaign is demanding deletion of all innocent people from the Police National Computer (PNC) and Police National Database (PND) at the same time that their DNA is deleted.
BMH UK has for the past three years been campaigning against the way the DNA database has `criminalised’ black Britons.
BMH UK says up to a million innocent people will still retain the status of a criminal, unless the PNC and PND records are deleted at the same time as well as any photos.