Nine men arrested in Bradford as part of government crackdown on illegal working trade
Over 500 arrests and 600 enforcement visits have been carried out across the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber in a crackdown on the illegal working trade in the UK.
Since the 5 July last year, to 31 May, 687 visits resulted in 557 arrests, marking a 14% and 56% rise respectively compared to the year before.
The action forms part of a nationwide intensification which has seen illegal working visits increase by 48% and arrests spike by 51% across the UK.
In a joint operation in March with West Yorkshire Police, government officers visited the junction of Naples Street and Whetley Lane in Bradford.
They were acting on intelligence that illegal workers were being collected daily by vans transporting them to work.
Officers intercepted the group waiting at the hotspot to be collected for work in the morning and arrested nine men, including six Afghans, one Nigerian, one Bangladeshi and one Ethiopian.
The Home Office say that in many cases, individuals travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in the UK.
However, in reality they often end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours, with the threat of arrest and removal if they are caught working illegally.
The government are now extending Right to Work checks on those hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like construction, food delivery, beauty salons and courier services.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: 'Illegal working undermines our border security, damages our economy and often leads to the exploitation of vulnerable migrants.
'This activity will no longer be tolerated on our watch and these figures demonstrate this government's determination to disrupt organised immigration criminals at every level.'
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