Hundreds of immigrants are set to receive compensation after their mobile phones were confiscated by authorities — leaving families and legal support out of reach.
Campaigners say the seizures caused “huge stress and disruption,” stopping people from contacting loved ones, arranging legal advice, or managing everyday life.
The High Court ruled the Home Office acted unlawfully in seizing migrants phones as they crossed the English Channel illegally.
The government admitted the actions were unlawful and pledged payouts to those affected, with details on who qualifies and how much coming soon.
Advocates warn this is just the tip of the iceberg. “Lives were upended by this confiscation,” said one campaigner. “There must be strict safeguards so it never happens again.”
For many, a simple phone became a lifeline — now its loss is being acknowledged with cash, but the emotional toll lingers.
So far 32 asylum seekers have received payouts totalling a staggering £210,800 and a further 41 cases are yet to be resolved, this bill for taxpayers could reach £480,887.
Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said, “This beggars belief. The taxpayer should not be made to hand over huge sums to people who have made their way here illegally to break into the country.
“If granted permission, they should instead be required to repay the huge costs of maintaining them while their applications are processed.”
Daniel Carey, of Deighton Pierce Glynn, said, “Nearly 2,000 phones were taken from migrants in an indiscriminate blanket policy that the High Court has now found to be unlawful on multiple fronts.
“All of this had real impacts on very vulnerable people, who lost touch with their families and couldn’t get their asylum documentation, while the phones languished on a shelf for many months, many which now cannot be returned.”
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