British authorities are discussing the possibility of issuing tracking bracelets for illegal immigrants to monitor their locations using GPS in order to reduce the costs of holding them in accommodation centers. This was reported by the British "Times," which noted, citing sources, that over 175,000 people in the UK are waiting for a response from the government regarding their asylum applications, and they are kept in private immigration centers; however, the number of these centers is insufficient.
Keeping illegal immigrants costs UK taxpayers around £4 billion (approximately $5 billion) annually, while maintaining over 50,000 illegal immigrants in hotels costs about £6 million ($7.5 million) daily. At the same time, the British government is concerned that there may not be enough electronic tracking bracelets for all illegal immigrants, and the program itself would require significant investment. Additionally, this measure could provoke outrage among human rights activists, potentially leading to lawsuits against the authorities.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously described solving the issue of illegal immigration as one of the five main tasks of his government. The number of illegal immigrants arriving on the shores of England via rubber boats across the English Channel has steadily increased over the past few years, with 299 cases recorded in 2018, rising to 8,400 in 2020, and reaching 28,500 in 2021. Last year, this figure surged by 60% to 45,700 illegal immigrants. In early August, "Sky News" reported that the total number of migrants who reached the UK from France via the English Channel had reached 100,000.
