Official statistics show that 28,526 people crossed the English Channel in small boats last year, compared to 8,404 in 2020.
The British government has decided to test the application of electronic tracking equipment (such as electronic anklets) on some asylum seekers after they arrive in the UK by truck or small boat – this route has skyrocketed since 2021 with around 2,000 migrants a month.
The 12-month trial, which began last Thursday, should include adults who come from “dangerous or unnecessary” routes. For Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Conservative Party), the measure will be important to “ensure that asylum seekers don’t just disappear across the country”.
For those who criticize the measure, the British government treats these people like criminals. Anyone caught working and/or living in the UK illegally is asked to leave the country on their own. If this does not happen, the law provides for deportation, but there is a risk of detention before deportation.
The monitoring pilot project comes days after another controversial strategy almost took off: The first air shipment of asylum seekers to another country, Rwanda, was suspended at the last minute by the European Court of Human Rights.
The first to be screened electronically should be those who successfully survived deportation on that flight to Rwanda.
According to the government, electronic monitoring aims to improve both regular contact with asylum seekers and the progress of this application. On the other hand, the measure will also collect data on how many people have fled from this whole process and from the authorities.
Persons to be monitored electronically, for example, may be subject to a curfew, and those who do not comply with the regulations may be detained or a criminal complaint may be filed.
The government argues that people who are told they will be deported from the UK tend to have a higher risk of escape and less incentive to comply with bail requirements (i.e. to be released until the government responds to their asylum application).
Image: BBC
Those in possession of a location tracking device will need to regularly report to an immigration center or police station.
It is not yet clear what criteria will be adopted to determine who should and should not be followed electronically. But the government says it won’t be done to children or pregnant women.
Social workers involved in the program should also consider whether the device causes serious harm to the person’s mental or physical health, or whether, for example, the person has been a victim of torture or modern slavery before arriving in the country. But the government says these factors alone won’t hinder the device’s adoption.
According to Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom is “a very hospitable and generous country, but it is important to distinguish between people coming in illegally”.
“That’s what we’re doing with our Rwandan policy. That’s what we’re doing to ensure that asylum seekers don’t disappear across the country.”
According to Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer, Johnson’s government is trying to “get the attention of the press” and its strategy will not stop criminal gangs from continuing to traffic people across the English Channel. England and France).
Starmer demanded a “serious and adult” response from the government, along with French officials.
Refugee Council Chief Executive Enver Solomon said the government’s treatment of people fleeing “war, blood and persecution” as criminals was “appalling”.
“This brutal and punitive approach not only shows mercy to the very vulnerable, but will do nothing to stop those who are desperately seeking safety in the UK.”
He said the experiment with electronic monitoring devices was a “steering tactic” from the government’s “complete failure to manage the asylum system in an orderly manner”. According to Solomon, there are more than 100,000 people waiting for a decision on their asylum application.
Tony Smith, former head of the Border Force, told the BBC he thought tracing those who could be deported was a “logical” measure in principle, but would need more detail on what criteria would be adopted in this strategy. .
For Home Secretary Priti Patel, the court’s decision was “absolutely scandalous”, lacking transparency and “politically motivated”.
“We don’t know who the judges are, we don’t know who the panel is, we don’t have a hearing, just a press release and a letter saying we can’t make these people act under Rule 39,” he said. He told Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
Boris Johnson described the European court’s decision as “a strange last-minute hiccup” and stressed that he did not see the government’s decision to deport immigrants to Rwanda as illegal.
According to the government, a strategy of giving Rwanda a one-way ticket to apply for asylum would deter others from crossing the English Channel. However, the Ministry of Interior has not yet been able to say exactly the results of the strategy.
Official statistics show that 28,526 people crossed the English Channel in small boats last year, compared to 8,404 in 2020.
About 600 refugees crossed the Channel in 4/13 alone, and according to Johnson, that number could reach 1,000 a day in the coming weeks.
The BBC has seen residences where these people will be housed, believed to accommodate around 100 people at a time and are believed to process up to 500 migrants a year.
source: Noticias
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