Children who arrive in the UK on small boats could be subjected to mouth searches for hidden sim cards under new Home Office rules. The measures, part of the border security, asylum and immigration bill, allow immigration enforcement officials to seize phones at the border if they believe the devices contain intelligence on people-smugglers.
Officers will have the power to require new arrivals to remove outer clothing such as coats, jackets or gloves, and to conduct searches inside someone's mouth for a hidden sim card or small electronic device. Home Office sources confirmed that children could also be searched if deemed clearly necessary and proportionate.
Charities have raised concerns, with Maddie Harris of the Humans for Rights Network stating: “People should be treated with dignity and respect, not as criminals subject to invasive searches and interrogatory questioning violating their privacy.” Sile Reynolds of Freedom from Torture described the measures as a “dystopian act of brutality.”
One Syrian refugee dismissed the effectiveness of the searches, saying: “I never heard of any asylum seeker hiding a sim card in their mouth. When we crossed the Channel the smugglers told us to delete everything from our phones.”
Home Office officials say the mobile phone searches will enable them to collect intelligence on asylum seekers’ journeys and to arrest people-smugglers. The bill is expected to receive royal assent this week.
