In a significant hardening of its immigration policy, the British government announced on Monday that police at UK ports will soon possess enhanced powers to search illegal migrants, including requiring them to remove outer clothing and permitting searches inside their mouths. The objective is to find mobile phones and SIM cards crucial for gathering intelligence on their journey and assisting investigations into criminal gangs responsible for smuggling people across the Channel. The Home Office, the ministry overseeing the country's interior affairs, confirmed the new measures are designed to dismantle these criminal networks that frequently utilize phone contacts and social media platforms to recruit migrants for the dangerous small-boat crossings from France, which have reached unprecedented levels this year, reports The WP Times with reference to Reuters.
The Labour government has been increasingly tightening its stance on immigration, particularly illegal entry, in a strategic effort to curb the soaring popularity of the populist Reform UK party, which has successfully set the national agenda on migration issues. The new legislation is expected to receive "Royal Assent"—a formality that signifies final approval without further parliamentary debate—in the coming days. These powers explicitly authorize officers to compel migrants to take off coats, jackets, or gloves to search for electronic devices. Furthermore, police will be allowed to inspect migrants' mouths for concealed SIM cards or small electronic items.
The Home Office, led by Secretary of State Shabana Mahmood, explained that previously, searching a migrant's mobile phone was only permissible after a formal arrest had been made. The new powers, therefore, will enable officers to collect vital intelligence much faster. Recent public opinion polls suggest that immigration has eclipsed the economy as the paramount concern among British voters, a sentiment underlined by public protests outside hotels accommodating asylum seekers at taxpayer expense over the summer. While the government defends its tougher approach as necessary, the policy has drawn sharp criticism from several rights groups. These organizations argue that such measures unjustly target migrants, fuel racist sentiment, and encourage violence.
Sile Reynolds, the Head of Asylum Advocacy at Freedom from Torture, strongly condemned the policy, describing it as a "dystopian act of brutality." Reynolds stated, "Using invasive powers to search through the clothing - and even inside the mouths - of desperate and traumatised people when they have just survived a terrifying journey across the Channel is a dystopian act of brutality."
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