United Nations to Usurp U.S. Sovereignty Again??

OregonLive.com ^ | 6/30/03 | Bill Stewart

[ProudEagle]

ID cards would allow sailors to go ashore

06/30/03

BILL STEWART

VANCOUVER -- Under post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism security measures, foreign sailors are often trapped aboard their ships during stops at U.S. ports, including those along the Columbia River.

That problem drew maritime experts from as far as New York to Fort Vancouver Seafarers Center in April. That session concluded, among other things, that the 1.2 million sailors worldwide need high-tech ID cards.

The International Labor Organization, an arm of the United Nations, last week adopted the ID card concept. The organization will meet in Geneva this week to work on additional details.

The photo ID cards would be based on a background check in sailors' home nations and would replace short-stay visas, allowing for shopping trips and recreational shore leave. The cards would include a fingerprint and would have room for other information, such as a retinal scan.

"With the heightened concerns about port security since the 9-11 attacks, a new seafarers' identity document will be a substantial contribution to international security," the International Labor Organization said last week from its Geneva headquarters. The agency, which dates to 1919 and the Treaty of Versailles, works on the safety and civil rights of all types of workers.

Not all crews are being restricted. Those on scheduled carriers -- vessels that continually follow the same route -- have been getting crew visas for stops in the United States. But vessels that sail where the cargo takes them -- usually called tramps -- rarely spend the $100 per person for an individual visa that may get used once or twice. It is those crew members who can't legally set foot on the dock, even to call home.

Since the security lockdown, Carl Landerholm, director of the Seafarers Center, has been taking cell phones and books aboard ships "but it's no substitute for walking on land after weeks at sea."

Douglas Stevenson, director of the Center for Seafarers' Rights in New York, said in a phone interview that he has been attending the ID card debates. He also was at the Vancouver meeting in April. At that time he praised the seafarers board for taking a lead in trying to solve the problem.

The new card has been endorsed by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration. But Stevenson said the U.S. State Department is grumbling because the card would replace the visas that the State Department issues from its foreign embassies.

Use of the cards would be limited to allowing sailors off their vessels for shore leave.

But international shipping companies would like the card to be accepted in lieu of passports. That idea, rejected by the International Labor Organization, involved ship crew members going to or from vessel assignments.

In Portland, Jim Townley, director of the Columbia River Steamship Operators, said his group has not discussed the card as a substitute for passports. "We've taken a wait-and-see position, but our primary interest was the impact on shipping agents. They get involved in visas, replacement passports and other crew paperwork now."

The April session at the Seafarers Center also suggested that a free-trade zone be created to allow sailors to visit the center, which is in the port's security zone. The creation of the ID cards would make a Vancouver free-trade zone unnecessary, Landerholm said.

[ProudEagle]

Anyone else get red flags from this? Background checks from their own home country? United Nations Labor Organization? State Department is "grumbling". A little leftist editorial here?

[Cacophonous]

United Nations to Usurp U.S. Sovereignty Again??

The title says it all; the UN can only usurp US Sovereignty if the US allows it to happen.

[ProudEagle]

True. My title. Just wanted to post this nationally so it doesn't slip under the radar.

[WSGilcrest]

[ProudEagle]

pinging

[CyberCowboy777]

Washington State Ping List

This is all known Washington State Freepers and interested parties as of 1/03/03
Less those who opted out
If you want on or off this ping list Freepmail me.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

This one is bound to have comic potential. We got UN and Sovereignty in the title.

[MineralMan]

"This one is bound to have comic potential. We got UN and Sovereignty in the title."

Well, so far, not much has been written on it. Seems silly to me. The merchant seamen come into port, but can't come ashore because they don't have the right papers. That's the gist of it. So, let's come up with a way to let them take a little shore leave and visit some of the fine establishments available dockside in most major ports, eh?

I don't really see a problem with this. If the UN wants to come up with some form of ID that will be acceptable to our officials, who cares?

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Not much action here at all. Kinda disappointing thread. I was hoping for lots of hysterical shrieking to mock, and now am really disappointed.

[Poohbah]

Heck, we can deny access to specific persons more easily with this proposal.

CP, you're right, this thread coulda had class, it could been somebody, it coulda been a CONTENDUH!

But it's rather disappointing.

[hchutch]

Yeah... what a mess...

[kevkrom]

I don't really see a problem with this. If the UN wants to come up with some form of ID that will be acceptable to our officials, who cares?

The problems come from security. Basically, this system will issue a short-visit visa to anyone posing as a merchant seaman based on their home country's assement, rather than through the usual US visa issuance process.

Frankly, I'd be OK with this under certain circumstances:

1. The sailor cannot be gauranteed entry just based on this ID; i.e., the US should reserve the right to deny any individual for any reason.
2. Any sailor wishing entry based on the ID card must wait in the "secure zone" until a background check (name, fingerprint, photo, etc.) is performed. One background check should be sufficient for multiple successive days.
3. All sailors gaining entry via the ID card must be logged in and out, with fingerprint or retinal scan verification for bth check-in and check-out.
4. A strict curfew is enforced (no overnight visits)
5. The ship owner is responsible for the actions of the crewmember; including both civil and criminal liability for any actions taken during the visit.
6. The issuing nation is responsible for the actions of the crewmember; retaliatory actions to be consummate with the damage done.

If the sailors don't want to abide by the above, they are perfectly free to apply for a visa prior to arriving. (Most visa have an open-ended enough visit window that not being able to plan a specific arrival date is not an excuse.)

[Libertina]

"We've taken a wait-and-see position...
Perhaps they should STOP doing this.

[11B3]

Thanks for the ping! What a load of crap - we don't need to be letting these sailors in from who knows where. How about some of OBL's ships?

GET US OUT OF THE UN!!! (And the WTO, NATO, NAFTA, and the IMF.) We need to make the UN a campaign issue.