Ankle tag pilot flops as two thirds of migrants wearing trackers go missing

[dutchman]

Technology test fails to boost Home Office keeping tabs on asylum seekers, as Albanians teach them how to remove ‘British Rolexes’



The Home Office lost contact with two thirds of asylum seekers who had been electronically tagged, a report has revealed.

The migrants – including many who had crossed the Channel on small boats – were fitted with ankle tags to help the Home Office track their movements and ensure they reported fortnightly to immigration officials.

However, the pilot scheme involving 1,000 migrants to test the technology found that it failed to improve attendance rates – and, in the end, made no difference to the number of contacts made with the Home Office.

Officials admitted this could have been because 88 per cent of those who were tagged were Albanians, who were largely regarded as economic migrants rather than genuine asylum seekers, when they accounted for the bulk of migrants crossing the Channel.

After 500 days, officials reported that two-thirds of those on tags were no longer in contact with the Home Office, the same rate as a “control” group who were tag-free.

“At the end of the pilot, only 32 per cent, (162 out of 502) of the tagged group were compliant with reporting, and 34 per cent (174 out of 509) of the control group were compliant,” said the report.

Nearly one in six of the tagged group (16 per cent) had absconded, compared with 16 per cent of those from the control group without tags.

Even those who were classed as compliant had tried to break free of their tags, with officials overseeing the pilot scheme reporting that there were nearly 1,400 attempts to tamper with the electronic ankle straps or the batteries.

The Telegraph revealed in 2023 how Albanian criminals and migrants had been demonstrating how to remove the ankle tags.

They posted TikTok videos showing how use kitchen scissors to cut off the tags, which they have described as “British Rolexes”.

They boasted that it enabled them to abscond despite the threat of jail or other sanctions for breaching their immigration bail.

In one video, the man cutting off his tag is asked: “Where are the police?” He replies: “In the police station, lol. I took it off myself.”

Another posted a comment asking: “If I cut mine off and changed my address, would that work or am I still in trouble?” A reply read: “When you cut it off, don’t go back home lol.”

A third claimed to have scammed an old-style tag, which simply records whether someone is at home, unlike a GPS tag, which tracks someone 24/7 at all locations.

“I removed the tag and left it at home so I am not worried at all,” the man said.

A fourth warned that removing the tag could see an automatic 28-day return to prison.

However, a reply said: “Doing 28 days in prison is nothing. It is as easy as eating bread and cheese.”