Migrants arriving on small boats in the UK can now have their phones seized in a bid to track down the people-smuggling gangs they paid to ferry them across the English Channel.
Investigators will now have the powers to look through phone contacts and check the social media activity of those who arriving on British shores, usually by small boat across the English Channel.
The new powers coming into force this week will also enable immigration officers at UK ports to carry out body searches of asylum seekers for SIM cards and small electronic devices.
Officers can now also make illegal migrants remove an outer coat, jacket and gloves to search for devices.
The move forms part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to “smash the gangs” of people smugglers operating in northern France and Britain.
Despite the efforts of UK enforcement, which has included arrests of people smugglers in Iraqi Kurdistan, 39,292 migrants had arrived in Britain by November 27 this year, Home Office figures show.
Previously, immigration officers and law enforcement could legally search and seize mobile phones only if a migrant was under arrest.
The Home Office says faster access to migrants' phone data will help law enforcement to gather evidence to prosecute people smugglers and gain intelligence to dis
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