Children reaching UK by small boat face sim card mouth searches | Immigration and asylum

Children arriving in the UK on small boats could be searched to check if they have their phone SIM cards in their mouths under new Home Office rules.

The new measures will allow immigration officers to seize phones at the border if they are believed to contain useful intelligence about people smugglers.

Officers will have the power to make new arrivals at UK ports remove their outer coat, jacket or gloves to search for devices. They will also be able to search someone’s mouth to find a hidden SIM card or small electronic device.

Home Office sources confirmed that children could also be subject to these searches if deemed clearly necessary and proportionate.

Charities have expressed concern about the move and refugees have said they do not believe the Home Office will find any useful information on the new arrivals’ phones.

A Syrian refugee said: “I have never heard of a refugee hiding a SIM card in his mouth. When we crossed the canal, the smugglers told us to delete everything on our phones.

“People with cheap phones threw them into the sea, while people with good phones left them with friends in northern France and asked them to post them via DHL if they arrived safely in the UK. I think this is Shabana’s scheme.” [Mahmood].”

Maddie Harris, of the Human Rights Network, which provides support for young asylum seekers, said: “People should be treated with dignity and respect, not as criminals who violate their privacy and are subject to invasive searches and intrusive interrogations.

“Many of those arriving on small boats, especially children, will be traumatized by horrific journeys that include violence. [The] “The Home Office must prioritize recovery over crime.”

Home Office officials say mobile phone searches will allow them to gather intelligence about asylum seekers’ journeys and arrest people smugglers. Immigration, police and National Crime Agency (NCA) officers can conduct phone searches of immigrants at the border without arresting them, they said.

The NCA and police investigators will also be able to use new temporary serious crime prevention orders and take immediate action to ban suspects under investigation from using mobile phones, laptops and accessing social media.

The new rules are part of a border security, asylum and immigration bill expected to receive royal assent this week.

The high court ruled that the Home Office acted unlawfully when it had an unpublished policy to seize mobile phones from those arriving in small boats in 2022. Authorities said at the time that the purpose of the phone seizures was to obtain intelligence about smugglers.

Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris said: “Organised crime networks rely on telephone contacts and social media to recruit migrants for Channel crossings.

“These new powers will allow law enforcement to seize phones from illegal immigrants before they are arrested, so we can gather intelligence and stop these vile smuggling gangs before they attempt to risk more lives on these dangerous journeys.”

Sile Reynolds, head of asylum advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said: “Using invasive forces to search the clothes and even the inside of the mouths of desperate and traumatized people who have just survived a terrifying journey across the channel is a dystopian act of brutality.

“These new powers, which will be used indiscriminately against anyone seeking safety by small boat, risk treating all refugees as a security threat. Such blatant disregard for the universal human right to privacy is outrageous.”