"Simply subjecting people to intrusive round-a-clock surveillance is inhumane." --M.B.
October 2022
'EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE'
GPS_Tagging_Report_Final__1_.pdf
"This report clearly demonstrates that GPS tagging is experienced as a form of psychological torture and exists as a constant reminder of potential deportation and/or separation from loved ones. As explained here, people develop insomnia, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and exacerbation of mental distress. Simply subjecting people to intrusive round-a-clock surveillance is inhumane. It is certainly not a sensible or a well thought through policy. This ground-breaking report clearly shows us the sheer harms of such technologies of control. Tagging needs to be completely abolished."
DR MONISH BHATIA
Birkbeck, University of London
extract,
PAGE 28 ('EMYM') — "Electronic monitoring had a severe impact on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of the people we spoke to. The severe psychological harm Monish Bhatia describes in his study is also evident the experiences of our interviewees [73]. Participants spoke about the different ways that tagging forced them to lead a more isolated life. Some emphasized how the tag interfered with their ability to work or do the activities they are used to, or be a part of society in other ways. Others said it affected their most intimate relationships including the way they raise their children or their relationship with a partner. One participant told us that since he has been tagged his friends have been avoiding him. Participants in our research echoed the findings of Dr Monish Bhatia that tagging is experienced as a form or continuation of imprisonment outside of the prison [74].
‘I used to be very sociable, got a group of friends and that. Now, the majority, when they know that I’m on the tag, they’re avoiding me, for no particular reason…. They [friends] don’t want to associate with myself... I’m getting emotional because it’s so hard.’ (LR)
On top of the isolation that tagging caused, the lack of a time limit or any road map for removal or review of tagging meant that people felt stuck in a protracted period of limbo. Participants were not provided with information for challenging tagging or easy contact with Capita EMS or their Home Office caseworker, meaning they were unable to take proactive steps to remove the tag and were left waiting or hoping for the Home Office to act. The ICIBI’s [75] report suggests that such hopes are futile – the tagging system within the Home Office is so under-resourced and ill-equipped to deal with the scale of electronic monitoring that the three-month reviews required by Home Office policy are not taking place. At the same time, people are often waiting many months or years for a decision on, or conclusion to, their substantive immigration case, with Home Office decision-making becoming increasingly beset by delays. During this period some people are also banned from working and subject to other immigration restrictions known as the ‘hostile environment’. The people we spoke to were kept in a state of confusion and heightened anxiety and unable to move forward with their lives. For some participants the tag also served as a physical and constant reminder of the precarity of their presence in the UK and the lingering threat that they could be detained and taken away from their family at any moment."
related,
Research reveals "inhumane" effects of GPS tagging,
RUDY SCHULKIND, WOODREN BRADE, JO HYNES, DR KATHRYN ALLINSON,
PUBLISHED: 31ST OCTOBER 2022,
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"New research shows that migrants fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) tags experience significant psychological and physical suffering, despite no clear explanation or evidence from the Home Office that tagging is necessary or cost effective." (Public Law Project, 31 Oct)