By: Abby Huang

Last Saturday, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of Britain, publicly defended the government’s decision to electronically monitor the refugees, asylum seekers and who crossed the English Channel using GPS trackers.

The new guidelines enforce that anyone who travels to Britain through the “unnecessary and dangerous routes” would be monitored and required to report to authorities regularly. It is possible that some of the asylum seekers would be subjected to curfews or even banned from certain locations. If they failed to follow the guidelines, they would be at risk of detention or prosecution.

Mr. Johnson, who was interviewed by reporters near a British air force base, said that this way, refugees cannot just disappear into society.

Human rights groups and refugee condemned the new monitoring system, saying that the government treated the refugees like criminals. “It’s appalling that this government is intent on treating men, women and children who have fled war, bloodshed and persecution as criminals,” said Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council.

Refugee groups are particularly outraged at the fact that most of the refugees had been abused by the government and yet they are still monitored. Sue Willman, the chairperson of the Human Rights Committee at The Law Society, says, “The amount of suffering that can be caused to someone who is a torture survivor or who is mentally ill far outweighs the very minimal benefits for the government. The person is being effectively surveilled 24/7 — while they are on the toilet, while they are in bed.”

The government originally planned to send the refugees to Rwanda, but the European court injuncted. In the end, Johnson announced that the flight was still legal, so they still sent the refugees.

Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/world/europe/britain-migrants-electronic-monitoring.html#:~:text=the%20main%20story-,After%20an%20Outcry%2C%20Johnson%20Defends%20Britain’s%20Plan%20to%20Electronically%20Monitor,are%20being%20treated%20like%20criminals.