UK begins electronically tagging migrants coming via ‘unnecessary, dangerous routes’

The 12-month Home Office pilot scheme involves electronically tagging some people arriving on small boats or in the back of lorries

First to be tagged are likely to be those who avoided removal to Rwanda after European Court of Human Rights’ intervention this week

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Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel while giving a statement to parliament this week concerning the government’s plan to send migrants and asylum seekers who cross the Channel to Rwanda. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:33pm, 18 Jun 2022Updated: 7:50pm, 18 Jun 2022

Some people arriving in the UK via small boats or the back of lorries will be electronically tagged as part of a Home Office trial programme.

The department said the 12-month pilot, which began on Wednesday, will test whether electronic monitoring is an effective way to give immigration bail to those who arrive in the country using “unnecessary and dangerous” routes.

It comes after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday granted an injunction that resulted in a chartered aircraft to Kigali being unable to depart Wiltshire.

Home Secretary Priti Patel accused the ECHR of being politically motivated in its “absolutely scandalous” decision, while Justice Secretary Dominic Raab suggested new laws could ensure that interim measures from the Strasbourg court could effectively be ignored by the government.

People thought to be migrants who undertook the crossing from France in small boats and were picked up in the Channel, arrive in southeast England on Friday. Photo: AP

On Saturday, the Home Office said some of those who had been due to be on Tuesday’s flight to Rwanda could be tagged.

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