By: Peter Xiao

The Prime Minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, defended his government’s action to track refugees electronically in the country last Saturday. This resulted from the desire to prevent asylum seekers from blending in the country to keep them in the migration system.

Current events such as the war between Ukraine and Russia, the aftermath of the Syrian Civil War, and more have caused people to cross the English Channel to enter Britain for refuge. These people came from places such as Ukraine, Syria, and Somalia, all wanting a better future in Britain away from war and hunger. However, considering the government’s new guidelines, anyone that they deemed to have traveled on a dangerous route would be tagged to have their location constantly tracked, and even be excluded from entering certain areas.

Those chosen to be monitored would be fitted with tags once they leave detention and be granted bail. Prime Minister Johnson supported the action, commenting on how monitoring kept order in the migration system and how it ensured that “asylum seekers can’t just vanish into the rest of the country.”

However, the decision received major backlash from refugee organizations and human rights lawyers. Many worry of the effects following the monitoring of refugees that faced abuse in their past and say how unjust it is for the survivors to suffer from the surveillance.

Some even argue that the government is treating refugees like criminals and that they have no compassion for them. “It’s appalling that this government is intent on treating men, women and children who have fled war, bloodshed and persecution as criminals,” Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, a British-based organization that works with refugees and asylum seekers, said.

Despite this, the government seems determined on its plan, and have chartered a flight to bring asylum seekers to Rwanda as a part of the deal they made with the country in April. The European Court of Human Rights has grounded the flight through an injunction, but the government is determined to make sure that people stay in detention until the next flight arrives.

The effects from the policy will have to be faced by the 11,000 people that crossed the English Channel this year, double from the same period last year. The perilous journey they took was what caused at least 44 people to be dead or missing last year.

Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/world/europe/britain-migrants-electronic-monitoring.html