“`html
UK to Search Migrants, Including Children, for SIM Cards Hidden in Mouths Under new Border Rules
New measures granting authorities expanded search powers at the UK border have sparked outrage from human rights groups, raising concerns over the treatment of vulnerable asylum seekers.
The home Office is enacting new rules allowing immigration enforcement officials to seize mobile phones from individuals arriving in the UK via small boats, believing the devices may contain crucial intelligence regarding human smuggling operations. The measures, part of the forthcoming Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill expected to receive royal assent this week, extend to the power to search individuals – including children – for concealed SIM cards or electronic devices, even within their mouths.
Officers will be authorized to require new arrivals to remove outer layers of clothing, such as coats, jackets, and gloves, to facilitate searches for devices.According to Home Office sources, these searches will only be conducted when deemed “clearly necessary and proportionate.”
The move has drawn swift condemnation from charities and refugee advocates, who argue the measures are invasive, dehumanizing, and unlikely to yield valuable intelligence. One Syrian refugee stated, “I never heard of any asylum seeker hiding a sim card in their mouth. When we crossed the Channel the smugglers told us to delete everything from our phones.” The refugee further explained that many individuals discard inexpensive phones at sea, while those with more valuable devices often leave them with contacts in france for later delivery. “I think this is a show by Shabana [Mahmood],” thay added, referencing the home secretary.
Maddie Harris, of the Humans for Rights Network, which supports young asylum seekers, emphasized the need for dignified treatment. “People should be treated with dignity and respect,not as criminals subject to invasive searches and interrogatory questioning violating their privacy,” she said. “Most who arrive in small boats, notably children, will be traumatised by horrific journeys characterised by violence. [The] Home Office should prioritise recovery over criminality.”
Home Office officials maintain that the mobile phone searches are essential for gathering intelligence on asylum seekers’ journeys and disrupting the networks of people-smugglers. Immigration officials, police, and the National Crime Agency (NCA) will be able to search migrants for phones without making an arrest. The NCA and police will also have the authority to issue interim serious crime prevention orders,potentially banning suspects from using mobile phones,laptops,and social media.
This is not the first time the Home Office has attempted to implement such measures. In 2022, the High Court ruled that the department had acted unlawfully with a blanket, unpublished policy of confiscating phones from small boat arrivals, again citing the need to gather intelligence on smugglers.
the minister for border security and asylum,Alex Norris,defended the new powers,stating,”Organised criminal networks rely on phone contacts and social media to recruit migrants for Channel crossings. These new powers will allow law enforcement to seize illegal migrants’ phones before an arrest so we can gather intelligence and shut down these vile smuggling gangs before they attempt to risk more lives in these dangerous journeys.”
However, Sile Reynolds, the head of asylum advocacy at Freedom from Torture, described the measures as a “dystopian act of brutality.” Reynolds argued that the powers would be applied indiscriminately, treating all refugees as potential security threats and demonstrating a “blatant disregard for the worldwide human right to privacy.”
