LONDON: UK authorities have deployed new counter-terror style powers to seize the phones of migrants who arrive by small boats from northern France, to tackle criminal gangs behind the crossings.
The initiative is part of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s attempts to slash the number of migrant arrivals, and stem a surge in support for Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration party Reform UK.
Over 41,000 people made the perilous sea journey across the Channel last year — the second highest tally since records began in 2018.
Police and immigration enforcement officers will confiscate phones and SIM cards from migrants at the Manston processing center, near Ramsgate, on the southeast coast of England.
FASTFACTS
• Authorities hope the seizures will enable them to access information on phones, such as contacts and maps to help disrupt the people smuggling networks.
• The opposition Conservative Party’s home affairs spokesperson Chris Philp dismissed the measures as ‘cosmetic tweaks.’
The seizures will be allowed without the need to make an arrest under new legislation — the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill — passed by Parliament last year.
Authorities hope the seizures will enable them to access information on phones such as contacts and maps to help disrupt the people smuggling networks and prosecute the ringleaders.
“We promised to restore order and control to our borders, which means taking on the people smuggling networks behind this deadly trade,” Border Security Minister Alex Norris said.
“That is exactly why we are implementing robust new laws with powerful offenses to intercept, disrupt and dismantle these vile gangs faster than ever before and cut off their supply chains,” he added.
Charities representing migrants have condemned the new measures.
“This new law is anti-refugee. It’s another attack on rights, and further criminalizes people seeking safety,” said Refugee Action last month when the legislation received final approval.
The opposition Conservative Party’s home affairs spokesperson Chris Philp dismissed the measures as “cosmetic tweaks.”
He urged the government to get a “proper grip on the situation” by quitting the European Convention on Human Rights.
The law has also created new criminal offenses such as storing or supplying boat engines to bring migrants to the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
In November, UK Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced a number of proposals to deter migrants, including making refugee status temporary and reviewing it every 30 months.
Migrants will also need to wait longer than the current five years before they can apply for permanent residency. Depending on their circumstances, it could take from 10 to 30 years.
Mahmood described the proposals, modelled on Denmark’s strict asylum system, as “the most significant changes to our asylum system in modern times.”
