UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said the government is not ruling out the use of GPS trackers on migrants who come to the UK illegally.
The minister said she would be willing to use a "range of options" to deal with migrants who cross the English Channel in small boats.
This comes after reports suggested that the Home Office was considering fitting electronic trackers on migrants who land in the UK through unauthorised means.
Suella Braverman not ruling out the use of GPS trackers on migrants
'The only effective way to stop the problem of people smuggling is deterrents. Those that attempt this journey will face removal from the UK.'
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 28, 2023
Home Sec Suella Braverman says that the only effective way to stop illegal migration to the UK is deportation. https://t.co/aPgmv5F6qQ pic.twitter.com/yIGboOPwD8
Suella Braverman told Sky News: "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."
When asked if she would consider GPS trackers, she said: "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."
However, Shadow Employment Minister Justin Madders criticised the refusal to rule out the use of trackers, saying: "The only people you tag are criminals - my understanding is that people coming to this country seeking asylum are not criminals.
"They're usually fleeing persecution and if there was a problem with people absconding, this is the first I've heard about it.
"This is just another gimmick that is not dealing with the root of the problem at all."
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