According to new Home Office plans, certain asylum seekers who land in the UK on small boats or in the backs of lorries could be electronically tagged.

Adults who are set to be deported from the UK after arriving via “dangerous or needless” means will be the focus of a 12-month pilot.

People who successfully contested their deportation to Rwanda this week will most likely be the first to be labelled.

The idea, according to critics, regards those escaping persecution as criminals.

The study, which began on Thursday in England and Wales, will see if tagging helps keep regular touch with asylum seekers and advances their cases more successfully, according to the Home Office. It will also gather information on how many people fled the country.

Those who have been tagged may be subjected to a curfew, and those who do not follow their conditions may be detained or prosecuted.

It’s unclear how the decision on who to tag will be made, but according to Home Office instructions, children and pregnant women will be excluded.

Caseworkers must also examine if the device might endanger the person’s mental or physical health, as well as whether the person has been a victim of torture or modern slavery.

These criteria, however, do not exclude the imposition of a tag, according to the guidelines.

Those who have a location-tracking gadget will be obliged to report to an immigration centre or a police station on a regular basis.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) granted an injunction, preventing a chartered plane from departing for Kigali.

The Rwanda plan, introduced by the government in April, aims to provide some migrants crossing the Channel to the UK with a one-way ticket to Rwanda, where they can apply for asylum.

Although Home Office civil employees have not been able to properly calculate the benefits of the strategy, the government has stated that the scheme, which has an initial cost of £120 million, will deter others from crossing the Channel.