> So what happens if you just put your phone in the check-in luggage and say you don't have a phone?

Carry a cheap burner phone with you, then.

Related: KPMG, Deloitte Ask Staff to Use Burner Phones for overseas travel -> https://archive.is/lml0L

Don't lie. If you are caught, very nasty things can happen to you.

Or even better, don't go there in the first place. This is madness. How are you just normalising this?