Electronically tagging illegal migrants into the UK as part of the government’s expanded detention plans is among a range of options being considered by the government, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said on Monday.
The Indian-origin minister was reacting to a report in ‘The Times’ newspaper that claimed that GPS trackers will be deployed to tag migrants under the new Illegal Migration Act requirements. The report said Home Office officials are looking at it as a way to stop the absconding of migrants who cannot be housed in detention centres because they are full to capacity.
"We've just enacted a landmark piece of legislation in the form of our Illegal Migration Act — that empowers us to detain those who arrive here illegally and thereafter swiftly remove them to a safe country like Rwanda,” Braverman told ‘Sky News’ during a round of broadcast interviews.
“That will require a power to detain and ultimately control those people — we need to exercise a level of control if we are to remove them from the United Kingdom. We are considering a range of options. We have a couple of thousand detention places in our existing removal capacity.
"We will be working intensively to increase that but it's clear we are exploring a range of options — all options — to ensure that we have that level of control of people so they can flow through our system swiftly to enable us to remove them,” she said.
Braverman admitted the government may have to provide more detention places while it waits for the outcome of the legal challenges against its plans to deport migrants to Rwanda.
"If we are successful [in court], we will be operationalising our police. If we're thwarted by the courts, we'll do whatever it takes to make sure we stop the boats. It is a pledge the prime minister has made, it is one I have made and it is one we are working night and day to deliver,” she said.
Meanwhile, the UK Home Office is also facing a potential legal challenge from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) over the Bibby Stockholm barge being used to house migrants.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of the controversial barge which is moored in Portland, Dorset. The asylum seekers which were onboard had been moved off after Legionella bacteria was found in the water supply.
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