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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor

UK’s plans to seize asylum seekers’ phones condemned by campaigners

People (with faces blurred) sit before Border Force officers
Border Force officers processing people who have arrived via small boats at the Manston Immigration Processing Centre in Kent. Photograph: Home Office/PA

Home Office plans to immediately begin seizing asylum seekers’ mobile phones and sim cards without the need for an arrest have been condemned by a solicitor and anti-torture campaigners.

People who arrive by small boat and are sent to Manston processing centre in Kent will from Monday be eligible for searches for electronic devices, a minister has said, with technology on site to download data.

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