Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The British police will get new powers to search illegal migrants’ coats and mouth for phones, SIM cards at ports, the Government has said. The Home Office (interior ministry) said on December1 that the new powers would support investigations aimed at dismantling criminal gangs suspected of smuggling migrants across the Channel.
It said the gangs frequently use phone contacts and social media to recruit migrants for small-boat crossings from France, which have reached record levels this year, reported Reuters. The Labour government has been hardening its immigration policies in an effort to stem the soaring popularity of the populist Reform UK party, which has driven the immigration agenda.
The law is expected to receive “Royal Assent” in the coming days. Officers can make migrants remove coats, jackets or gloves to search for devices and may inspect mouths for concealed SIM cards or small electronics, the Home Office said. It said that previously, mobile phone searches were only possible after a migrant’s arrest, adding that the new powers would let officers collect information faster. The Government’s tougher stance on migration has been criticised by some rights groups, which argue that some policies scapegoat migrants and fuel racism and violence.
“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,” said Sile Reynolds, Head of Asylum Advocacy at Freedom from Torture.
