Mobile phones and sim cards will be taken from would-be asylum seekers without the need to arrest them from Monday, as part of efforts to tackle English Channel crossings and people smugglers.
Officers will begin confiscating devices from people at Manston processing centre in Kent, where data from the phones may provide intelligence on people smugglers. The new powers for law enforcement agencies are intended to speed up investigations and come after the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act became law in December.
The charity Freedom From Torture said subjecting migrants to “invasive searches” immediately after they have survived a journey across the Channel was “profoundly inhumane” and called for ministers to expand safe and legal routes to prevent dangerous crossings.
Officers will be able to carry out searches for a hidden sim card inside someone’s mouth and ask them to take off their coat, jacket or gloves.
However, Home Office minister Mike Tapp, Undersecretary of State for Migration and Citizenship, said on Monday that the powers were “well and truly proportionate” because children were dying in the Channel owing to the recklessness of gangs.
Border Security Minister Alex Norris said: “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 powers to intercept, disrupt and dismantle these vile gangs faster than ever before and cut off their supply chains. These operational measures sit alongside sweeping reforms to the system, to make it less attractive for migrants to come here illegally and remove and deport people faster.”
A total of 41,472 would-be asylum seekers arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel – the second highest annual figure on record.
The yearly total was 13 per cent higher than the figure for 2024, when 36,816 made the journey, and 41 per cent higher than 2023’s total of 29,437. It was also 9 per cent below the all-time high of 45,774 in 2022.
Natasha Tsangarides, associate director of advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said: “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.
“Cruel border practices will not stop people fleeing danger. As long as torture and conflict continue, smugglers will adapt and desperate people will keep taking risks to reach safety.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the Labour government had confined itself to “cosmetic tweaks” and that there was no deterrent to those crossing the Channel.
Instead, he pressed for Britain to quit the European Convention on Human Rights, a move Labour has rejected in favour of reforming the treaty to address the issue.
The government’s new law also introduces sentences such as up to 14 years in jail for storing or supplying boat engines to take people to the UK across the Channel. Smugglers downloading maps to show where to depart on small boats or researching the best places to buy equipment for the dinghies could also face up to five years in prison.
The UK’s Border Security commander, Martin Hewitt, who has the responsibility of stopping Channel crossings, said more than 4,000 disruptions against smuggling gangs have taken place since his unit was set up, such as by seizing cash and convicting gang leaders.
He said on Monday that the latest move marked a “key moment” to go further with extra tools to crack down on smugglers.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also announced plans for a series of reforms in what she described as “the most significant changes to our asylum system in modern times”, in an effort to deter people from travelling to the UK illegally and making it easier to deport them.
But Mr Philp said: “Seizing phones may help at the margins, but it will not fix the small boats crisis, which is raging out of control under this government.
“With more than 41,000 people arriving in 2025, the government needs to get a proper grip on the situation. Only the Conservatives will leave the ECHR and deliver our borders plan which will restore control of our asylum system.”
