Small Boats Migrants Tracked With Bar-Coded Wristbands

The Home Office confirmed use of the devices on Thursday

Wristbands are removed from migrants wrists before entering their hotel rooms before transfering to migrant shelters in Indio, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Illegal immigrants arriving on small boats are being fitted with bar-coded wristbands to keep tabs on their movements.

The Home Office confirmed to The Epoch Times on Thursday it started using the new technology—similar to hospital patient tags—to “help improve the monitoring of arrivals while they are in processing sites.”

The wristbands are part of a one-year, six-figure deal with Newark-based tech firm Barcode Warehouse to provide the tracking devices and associated software.

The firm was awarded the £150,000 contract in August 2022 after officials put out a tender for “the provision of barcoded wristbands and corresponding scanning equipment, in addition to asset-tracking software”.

The initial tender, under the headline reference “migrant tracker,” was awarded via the government procurement framework dedicated to vehicle telematics.

Other specific details surrounding procurement are redacted from the contract document.

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The Home Office devices are similar to the bar-coded wristbands fitted to migrants in Texas last year, which provided a backlash in the United States.

Busloads of immigrants had been bussed to New York state wearing the barcoded bracelets which led to accusations they were being treated like “cattle”.

Human rights groups in the UK have raised similar concerns about the Home Office scheme.

Tracking Devices

Immigration barrister and author of the Free Movement blog Colin Yeo told the Financial Times on Thursday that it was depersonalising migrants. “It’s treating people as things rather than as people with an identity and a name,” he said.

The tagging system is believed to have been put in place to allow the authorities to monitor the number and whereabouts of migrants at the main processing sites at Manston and Western Jet Foil in Kent.

A recent report by the Home Office’s independent inspector into the conditions facing migrants at Manston highlighted a “woeful” collection of data on the number of people held at the site.

The site was also at the centre of overcrowding and health concerns including outbreaks of contagious illnesses such as diphtheria.

The Epoch Times was unable to reach anyone at the Barcode Warehouse for comment on its government wristband contract.

According to its website, the firm—whose customers include the NHS and Royal Mail— is “the UK’s leading specialist provider of barcode technology, RFID, labelling and enterprise mobility solutions”.

It also offers high-tech police equipment including smartphones and location-tracking devices.

The Financial Times reports that the tech firm currently has more than £1.6 million in contracts with the government department.

A Home Office spokesperson told The Epoch Times: “Wristbands for migrants crossing the Channel by small boat can help improve the monitoring of arrivals while they are in processing sites.

“We take the welfare of people in our care extremely seriously and we continue to improve our short-term holding facilities.”

Some people arriving in the UK on small boats or via the back of lorries will be electronically tagged as part of a Home Office trial programme (Katie Boyden/PA)

Ankle Tags

The wristbands are now one of several ways used by the Home Office to monitor and track illegal migrants in the UK.

Earlier this year, the department faced criticism over the use of GPS-powered electronic ankle tags on new arrivals in the UK claiming asylum.

A report into the use of the tags by Privacy International said the “24/7” hour monitoring of immigrants was “highly intrusive.”

The privacy group said the Home Office was using the devices to collect location data “minute-by-minute every day” substantially extending their powers of surveillance.

Those wearing tags are prohibited from contact sports such as football, hockey or rugby, with “trail data” gathered by the Home Office used to consider prosecutions for breach of bail conditions.

The report added: “The system lacks adequate safeguards against unnecessary and disproportionate use.

“The imposition of tagging cannot be challenged before the judge considering an immigration bail application, thus ousting judicial oversight at this stage, a fundamental safeguard against unnecessary and disproportionate use of tagging.”

In addition to the GPS devices, procurement information released last year revealed that the Home Office was also to introduce “non-fitted devices” that will enable tracking via a process of “periodic biometric verification”.

According to the Guardian, migrants who have been convicted of a criminal offence would be required to scan their faces up to five times a day using smartwatches installed with facial recognition technology.

In May 2022, the government awarded a £6 million contract to the British technology company Buddi Limited to deliver “non-fitted devices” to monitor “specific cohorts” as part of the Home Office Satellite Tracking Service.

Last year, the government started a separate 12-month pilot scheme with the outsourcing group Capita to track asylum seekers arriving via small boats in real time using GPS-enabled monitoring devices.

The scheme, which the Home Office extended by six months in June, has been criticised by human rights groups and migrant charities.