LONDON: UK authorities have deployed new counter-terror style powers to seize the phones of migrants who arrive by small boats from northern France, to tackle criminal gangs behind the crossings.
The initiative is part of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s attempts to slash the number of migrant arrivals, and stem a surge in support for Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration party Reform UK.
Over 41,000 people made the perilous sea journey across the Channel last year — the second highest tally since records began in 2018.
Police and immigration enforcement officers will confiscate phones and SIM cards from migrants at the Manston processing center, near Ramsgate, on the southeast coast of England.
• Authorities hope the seizures will enable them to access information on phones, such as contacts and maps to help disrupt the people smuggling networks.
