Powers to take migrants' phones come into force

MOBILE phones and Sim cards will be seized from migrants without needing to arrest them from today in efforts to tackle Channel crossings and people smugglers.

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Officers will begin taking electronic devices from people at Manston processing centre in Kent, with technology on site to download data from them in a bid to gather intelligence on people smugglers.

The new powers for law enforcement agencies are hoped to speed up investigations and come after the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act became law in December.

Border security minister Alex Norris said: “We promised to restore order and control to our borders which means taking on the people smuggling networks behind this deadly trade.