Under a 12-month pilot, which began on Wednesday, some

people arriving in the UK in small boats or in the back of lorries

will be electronically tagged.
They will have to regularly report in person to authorities and
may be subject to a curfew or excluded from certain locations,
while failure to do so could result in them being returned to
detention or prosecuted.
Critics say the “draconian” move will do nothing to stop people
from taking risky journeys to reach the UK in search of asylum.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council,
said: “It’s appalling that this government is intent on treating
men, women and children who have fled war, bloodshed and
persecution as criminals.
“This draconian and punitive approach not only shows no
compassion for very vulnerable people; it will also do nothing
to deter those who are desperately seeking safety in the UK.”
Boris Johnson defended the plans on Saturday morning after
returning from an unannounced visit to Kyiv. Speaking to
reporters at RAF Brize Norton, the prime minister said: “This is
a very, very generous, welcoming country. Quite right too. I am
proud of it, but when people come here illegally, when they
break the law, it is important that we make that distinction.
“That is what we are doing with our Rwanda policy. That is what
we are doing with making sure that asylum seekers can’t just
vanish into the rest of the country.”
The Home Office said the trial programme would test whether
electronic monitoring assists in maintaining regular contact
with those given bail and helps to progress their claims more
effectively.
The first people to be tagged under the programme were likely
to be those who avoided removal to Rwanda this week for
processing, the BBC reported.
It comes after the European court of human rights (ECHR)
granted an injunction on Tuesday that resulted in the
cancellation of a chartered flight to Kigali, the capital of
Rwanda.
The home secretary, Priti Patel, accused the ECHR of being
politically motivated in its “absolutely scandalous” decision.
In an interview with the Telegraph, she said: “You’ve got to look
at the motivation. How and why did they make that decision?
Was it politically motivated? I’m of the view that it is,
absolutely.
“The opaque way this court has operated is absolutely
scandalous. That needs to be questioned.
“We don’t know who the judges are; we don’t know who the
panel are; we haven’t actually had a judgment – just a press
release and a letter saying we can’t move this person under
rule 39.
“They’ve not used this ruling previously, which does make you
question the motivation and the lack of transparency.”
The justice secretary, Dominic Raab, has suggested that new
laws could ensure interim measures from the Strasbourg court
could in effect be ignored by the government.
New figures revealed that the number of people crossing the
Channel to reach Britain this year has passed 11,000.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has previously said that “a
clear majority” of people arriving in the UK by small boat
should be considered to be refugees fleeing conflict or
persecution.
While the home secretary told MPs and peers last year that
70% of people making the crossing were “single men who are
effectively economic migrants”, and the government has
repeatedly referred to them as “migrants”, the UNHCR says
government data challenges this claim.
On Thursday, 146 people on four small boats were brought to
Britain.
The daily number has decreased steadily throughout the week
after a high of 444 on Tuesday. That was the highest number
since 562 on 14 April.
At least 48 people were brought ashore at Dover on Thursday.