March 24, 2025 – IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Migrant groups reject Labour Government’s proposed expansion of “unlawful” and dangerous electronic monitoring
On March 13, Home Office Minister Dame Angela Eagle introduced an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which would permit the Home Office to impose electronic tagging, curfews, and other potentially severe restrictions on freedom to move for people granted permission to enter or stay in the UK.
Migrant and human rights groups are outraged that GPS tagging, a practice that has been described as “psychological torture,” could be further expanded widening the surveillance of migrants and refugees by the British Home Office.
Electronic monitoring of asylum seekers has been found unlawful by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), stating it was in breach of data protection laws and had failed to assess its impact on people and their rights and freedoms. GPS tagging has also been widely condemned by national and international public bodies including the UN Human Rights Committee. The Government’s own review of their pilot scheme to expand GPS tagging found that the tag did not improve compliance or prevent people from absconding.
The £200 million contract to deliver 24/7 GPS monitoring for the Home Office was awarded to Serco, a British corporation, in November 2023. Serco was previously ordered to pay £22.9m back to the government after committing fraud and false accounting in delivering a tagging scheme.
Despite being a key contractor in the UK’s hostile environment policy, Serco recently submitted a bid for an £800 million Home Office contract for “supporting victims of modern slavery” and are seeking expressions of interest (presumably from charity/support work organisations) to support the delivery.
QUOTES:
Malachi, the pseudonym of a member of the Shareholders Show Up campaign who is currently subject to 24/7 GPS location tracking by Home Office contractor Serco.
“I have been forced to wear a 24/7 GPS ankle tag since 2023, with no idea when it will be removed. I am constantly worrying about my immigration status and the Home Office’s plans for me, living in fear of potential repercussions or complications related to indefinite tag restrictions. People need to know the truth: we are part of communities here, just trying to rebuild our lives, but we are treated as less than human and forced to live in limbo. This has a ripple effect of harm on entire communities. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Companies like Serco and Aviva can choose to stop carrying out cruel hostile environment policies like GPS tagging.”
Mallika Balakrishnan, Digital Organiser at Migrants Organise
“We are alarmed to see this proposed expansion of Home Office powers to surveil our communities and further resource cruel practices carried out by Serco and other private contractors. We regularly witness the ways in which restrictive conditions like immigration reporting and electronic monitoring take a devastating toll on the mental and physical health of people who are simply trying to build a life here.
Instead of expanding Home Office powers and lining the pockets of companies like Serco, the government should be putting resources towards community-supported solutions that enable people to live with dignity.”
Jonah Mendelsohn, Lawyer and Legal Officer at Privacy International
“We are deeply concerned by the recent amendment to the Border, Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which allows the Home Office to impose GPS tracking as a condition of leave to remain or enter. This is a disproportionate and unnecessary expansion of surveillance powers when there is no sign that the failings in the use of GPS tracking as an immigration bail condition have been remedied.
Following a damning ICO Enforcement Notice and two court judgements relating to the use of GPS tracking in immigration bail conditions, there is an urgent need for the Home Office to properly assess the privacy intrusion of continuous location tracking and its impacts on tag wearers. Instead, the opposite has happened with more punitive, costly and ineffective surveillance that appears to be accompanied by even fewer guardrails.”
Charlotte Buckley, Director at Bail for Immigration Detainees
“GPS tagging has been described by our clients as ‘psychological torture.’ Despite clear medical evidence, vulnerable individuals—including survivors of torture and human trafficking—are routinely subjected to this practice by the Home Office, often for years beyond the stated guidelines.
We had hoped the new government would see sense and end this inhumane policy. Instead, the scheme—already found to be widely unlawful —is being expanded, despite a Home Office evaluation in January confirming that GPS tagging of asylum seekers had no benefit.
It is deeply concerning to see yet another government disregarding both facts and ethics to enforce harmful immigration policies. Public funds should be invested in policies that make our society better, not wasted on cruel and performative measures such as this.”
