The Home Office has stated that it will begin to seize migrants’ mobile phones at the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent as of Monday 5 January.

The announcement follows new powers permitting the seizures even without arresting the owner of the phone coming into force. Alex Norris, minister for border security, stated that:

We promised to restore order and control to our borders, which means taking on the people smuggling networks behind this deadly trade.

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.

New powers and sanctions to seize migrants’ mobile phones

The government has claimed that the authoritarian measure will help in gathering intelligence on people-smuggling gangs. The National Crime Agency also stated that such intelligence might help speed up investigations into small-boat ringleaders.

The Manston processing facility reportedly has technology ready to download data from the seized mobiles.

The new powers permit immigration officers to search immigrants’ mouths for SIM cards. They will also be able to order migrants to take off the outer layers of their clothing in order to search them for devices.

Along with the greater powers for border forces, the UK is also introducing new offences aimed at cracking down on people-smugglers.

These include up to 5 years in prison for downloading maps intended for small-boat crossings. Likewise, storing or supplying engines intended for small-boat trafficking could result in a sentence of up to 14 years.

‘That doesn’t take away compassion’

Minister for migration and citizenship Mike Tapp stated that officials might later return the seized phones. However, this would:

depend on the individual circumstances… what’s found on that phone. That’s for the guys on the ground to make that operational decision.

He also added that:

If people have devices… that could hold intelligence, then we are right to be able to seize that. But that doesn’t take away compassion.

Quite how searching terrified asylum seekers’ mouths for SIM cards is an act of compassion is anyone’s guess. Natasha Tsangarides – associate director of NGO Freedom from Torture – called out just that fact:

Subjecting desperate and traumatised men, women and children to invasive searches – including examinations of their clothing and even inside their mouths – immediately after they have survived a terrifying Channel crossing is profoundly inhumane.

Applying these powers indiscriminately to everyone arriving by small boat risks treating all refugees as a security threat, regardless of evidence, and shows a shocking disregard for the fundamental right to privacy.

Nothing new with seizing migrants’ mobile phones

Of course, immigration officials seizing mobiles from immigrants isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. Rather, the new legislation simply gives officials the backing of the law.

Back in 2022, the Home Office lost a High Court case against three asylum seekers. Border security officers seized their phones as part of a blanket policy targeting arrivals from the English Channel. The three didn’t even have time to tell their family of their safety after the dangerous crossing.

However, High Court judges rules that:

the Home Office’s seizure and retention of asylum seekers phones violated their human rights under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which grants a right to family and private life.

They also said that the Home Office had wrongly demanded PIN’s for the phones “without any lawful authority” and that their was no offence that asylum seekers could be prosecuted for if they failed to do this. The High Court said that “using a threat of prosecution for a non-existent offence to enforce the demand” was a clear breach of the asylum seekers’ human rights.

If you’re wondering what’s changed in the nearly-four years since this case – and why the human right to privacy apparently no longer applies to immigrants – don’t worry; you’re not the only one.

Jonah Mendelsohn, of Wilson Solicitors, highlighted the fact that the government hasn’t instated any independent oversight to ensure that the new powers are used fairly, or even legally. He stated that:

To comply with the legal standards identified by the high court, the use of intrusive searches and data extraction requires independent authorisation and oversight. It is not clear whether the legislation embeds such safeguards.

The suggestion that mobile phone searches will be rolled out at Manston also heightens concerns that searches will be carried out on new arrivals on a blanket basis, risking a re-run of the very failures previously identified by the courts.

Human rights? Not our problem

So, to summarise:

• In 2022, the UK High Court already stated that seizing immigrants’ phones is a violation of human rights.
• In spite of that, Labour have introduced new legislation permitting the seizure of immigrants’ phones.
• The government have put no safeguards in place to ensure that immigrants’ rights aren’t violated by these new powers.

This is simply the latest in a long line of demonstrations that the UK government – whether Labour or Tory – doesn’t care about human rights when immigrants are involved.

Whether it’s searching asylum seekers’ mouths for SIM cards, stealing immigrants’ jewellery at the border, or denying the right to family reunion, there simply isn’t a depth to which these racist politicians will not stoop.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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