UK given powers to seize migrants' phones in bid to tackle people smugglers

Investigators can now check mobile contacts and social media to see who migrants paid to arrive by small boat

Migrants disembark from a British Border Force vessel in Dover, on the UK's south coast. Reuters

Migrants arriving on small boats in the UK can now have their phones seized in a bid to track down the people-smuggling gangs they paid to ferry them across the English Channel.

Investigators will have the powers to look through phone contacts and check the social media activity of those who arriving on British shores, usually by small boat across the Channel.

The new powers coming into force this week will also enable immigration officers at UK ports to carry out body searches of asylum seekers for SIM cards and small electronic devices.

Officers can now also make illegal migrants remove an outer coat, jacket and gloves to search for devices.

The move forms part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to “smash the gangs” of people smugglers operating in northern France and Britain.

Despite the efforts of UK enforcement, which have included arrests of people smugglers in Iraqi Kurdistan, 39,292 migrants had arrived in Britain by November 27 this year, Home Office figures show.

Previously, immigration officers and law enforcement could legally search and seize mobile phones only if a migrant was under arrest.

Migrants arriving by what are known as irregular means, such in a small boat or hidden in a lorry, are technically breaking the law, but they are not arrested if they claim asylum under the Refugee Convention. They are only detained if they are suspected of themselves being involved in people smuggling or other criminal offences.

The Home Office says faster access to migrants' phone data will help law enforcement to gather evidence to prosecute people smugglers and gain intelligence to disrupt their activities earlier.

“Organised criminal networks rely on phone contacts and social media to recruit migrants for Channel crossings,” said Alex Norris, Minister for Border Security and Asylum.

“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.”

The new measures are contained in the Border Security Asylum and Immigration Bill, which the Home Office described as allowing counterterrorism-style powers to deal with the problem of small boats. The bill is due to receive royal assent this week.

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The legislation will allow the National Crime Agency (NCA) and police investigators to use new interim serious crime prevention court orders.

Investigators can use these to take immediate action to ban suspects under investigation from using mobile phones, laptops and accessing social media.

The NCA and the Home Office believe these wider powers will cut the length of investigations by months, if not years.

Home Office figures released last week revealed the largest crackdown on people-smuggling gangs on record, with nearly 900 organised immigration crime networks dismantled.

In the past year there has been a 33 per cent increase in arrests connected to people smuggling, convictions and seizures of criminal cash and assets, as well as nearly 4,000 instances of organised immigration crime disruption since Border Security Command was launched.

Migrants try to board a boat in northern France to cross the English Channel. AFP

The government says this is due to the work of the Border Security Command, forcing criminals to change tactics to evade punishment.

But despite intensification of the criminal justice approach to small boats, this year’s number for migrant crossings is close enough to the record of 45,755 in 2022 for the problem to remain a thorn in the side of the government.

Continuing small boat crossings have contributed to the rise of the right wing anti-immigration Reform UK party, which has promised to withdraw Britain from international treaties to deal with the problem. Opinion polls indicate Reform could win the next general election.

In response, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced a package of measures to make Britain a less attractive destination for asylum seekers. Under the changes, refugees in the UK would become temporary residents and subjected to regular reviews.

They would be removed from the country as soon as their home countries are deemed safe, with the wait for permanent settlement quadrupled to 20 years.