london the uk and irish governments have signed an agreement to preserve the common travel area and help crack down on illegal immigration the common travel area is a passportfree zone that comprises ireland great britain the isle of man and the channel irelands and can be crossed by irish and british citizens with only minimal identity documents a home office release said the agreement outlines work being taken on by both countries to prevent abuses of the common travel area while protecting its longestablished benefits of trade and tourism immigration minister damian green said this agreement will help us quickly refuse those with poor immigration records identify asylum shoppers and speed up the removal process in those cases where people have entered the common travel area he added the benefits the common travel area brings to travellers and the economies of our countries are wellestablished but it should not be exploited by those with no right to be here the meeting also included a commitment to the exchange of information such as fingerprint biometrics and biographical details particularly from high risk countries as part of the visa issuing process close cooperation between the two countries has this year revealed that of 1516 failed asylum claims made in ireland nearly 500 have been identified as being known to the uk border agency