The UK Home Office has launched a trial to allow electronic monitoring of migrants entering the UK in boats or in the back of lorries. The BCC reports this on Saturday. It is a one-year trial targeting adults who have arrived in the UK via “dangerous and unnecessary routes” and are awaiting deportation.
The trial started Thursday in England and Wales and is intended to test whether electronic monitoring makes it easier to keep in regular contact with asylum seekers and to process their applications more effectively. In addition, the trial aims to collect data on the number of migrants who go into hiding after arriving in the UK.
People subjected to the trial may be subject to a curfew. In addition, they can be jailed and sentenced if they do not adhere to certain conditions.
Criticism
Critics say the plan treats migrants as criminals. There are also concerns about possible negative effects of the device on their mental and physical health, especially if they were victims of torture or modern slavery in the past.
It’s unclear how exactly the UK government decides who monitors them or not. However, it is established that children and pregnant women are not followed. According to British media, the first group to be monitored would partly consist of asylum seekers who would actually be brought to Rwanda.
Rwanda
The United Kingdom signed an agreement with Rwanda in April to receive illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in the African country for a fee. London wants to prevent migrants from France from making the dangerous crossing to England, often in rickety boats and aided by people smugglers. However, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decided this week to put an end to this plan.
ALSO READ. European Human Rights Court narrowly stops expulsion of migrants from UK to Rwanda
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