A senior policing figure has called for male asylum seekers destined for a military camp in Sussex to be fitted with electronic tags so their movements can be tracked.
Pilot Scheme Proposed for Crowborough Arrivals
Katy Bourne, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex, has directly challenged Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to 'be bold' and authorise a pilot scheme. The initiative would involve tagging the 540 asylum seekers scheduled to be housed at the Crowborough Training Camp early in the new year.
Ms Bourne argued that monitoring via tags would act as a deterrent against criminal activity. She also claimed it could offer the migrants 'greater freedom' to travel further from the holding centre to seek temporary employment, as their whereabouts would be known to authorities.
Drawing Parallels with Shoplifting Crackdown
The PCC drew a comparison with a separate, 'promising' trial launched by Sussex Police in 2025, known as Operation STOP, which uses tags to monitor persistent shoplifters. 'The police monitoring the tags can tell exactly where the offenders are and, so far, the shoplifters are changing their behaviours,' she stated.
Ms Bourne suggested that a refusal to wear a tag should be seen as a red flag. 'It would be an indication that they are intending to abscond or are involved in unlawful activity,' she told BBC Sussex.
Political Reactions and Legal Context
The proposal has ignited a fierce political debate. Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp backed the idea, telling the Daily Mail that 'anything that keeps tabs better on these illegal immigrants is welcome'. He accused the government of caring more about the human rights of asylum seekers than those of potential victims of crime.
However, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage dismissed tagging as 'not the answer', arguing that 'none of these men should be free to roam the streets'. Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have pledged to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to facilitate tougher immigration measures.
Green Party deputy leader Rachel Millward, whose party opposes the use of the Crowborough camp, said Ms Bourne 'should know better'. She pointed out that a previous Conservative government trial of tagging asylum seekers was found to be unlawful.
Currently, the Immigration Act 2016 permits electronic monitoring primarily for individuals facing deportation, unless it is impractical or breaches their human rights. The Home Office confirmed a final decision on housing asylum seekers at the military site is expected imminently.
