UK AUTHORITIES will from Monday use new powers to seize mobile phones from migrants arriving by small boats from northern France, aiming to target criminal gangs involved in the crossings.
The move forms part of prime minister Keir Starmer’s efforts to reduce migrant arrivals and address rising support for Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration party Reform UK.
More than 41,000 people crossed the Channel last year, the second-highest number since records began in 2018.
Police and immigration officers will confiscate phones and SIM cards from migrants at the Manston processing centre near Ramsgate in south-east England.
The seizures will take place without arrests under new legislation, the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which was passed by parliament last year.
Authorities say information from phones, including contacts and maps, could help disrupt people-smuggling networks and support prosecutions.
“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 offences to intercept, disrupt and dismantle these vile gangs faster than ever before and cut off their supply chains,” he added.
Migrant charities criticised the measures.
“This new law is anti-refugee. It's another attack on rights, and further criminalises people seeking safety,” said Refugee Action last month when the legislation received final approval.
Opposition Conservative Party home affairs spokesperson Chris Philp called the steps “cosmetic tweaks”.
He urged the government to get a “proper grip on the situation” by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.
The law also introduces new offences, including storing or supplying boat engines to bring migrants to the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Interior minister Shabana Mahmood announced in November proposals to deter migrants, including making refugee status temporary and reviewing it every 30 months.
Under the plans, migrants would wait longer than the current five years to apply for permanent residency, with timelines ranging from 10 to 30 years depending on circumstances.
Mahmood described the proposals, modelled on Denmark’s asylum system, as “the most significant changes to our asylum system in modern times”.
(With inputs from agencies)
