Latest news with #illegalworking
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Eight held in Lancaster and Morecambe illegal working crackdown
Eight men suspected of working illegally have been arrested following a crackdown on nail bars and restaurants in businesses in Lancaster and Morecambe were visited on Friday in a joint operation between police, immigration enforcement and trading standards concerns about modern slavery and suspected illegal working, five Vietnamese men were arrested at three different nail bars, one in Morecambe and two in Bangladeshi men were later detained at an Indian restaurant in Lancaster. 'Flout the law' Businesses which employ illegal workers and fail to conduct relevant pre-employment checks risk substantial fines, the Home Office of the men who were detained at the nail bars either had outstanding asylum claims or appeals, said a Home Office spokesman, meaning that they did not have permission to work in the two other men were found to have entered the UK illegally and were placed on strict immigration bail, pending travel documents being issued to facilitate their removal. No modern slavery concerns were the three men arrested at the restaurant in Lancaster, two were detained pending their removal from the UK for breaching their visa third man was bailed pending travel documents being Bushnell, the north-west of England's immigration compliance and enforcement lead, said: "We will continue to target those who flout the law - both individuals and the businesses that exploit them." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
The Sun
13 hours ago
- The Sun
Small boat migrants working illegally as takeaway delivery riders will be ARRESTED and have bikes seized in crackdown
MIGRANTS working illegally as food delivery riders from asylum hotels are to be arrested and have their bikes seized in a major crackdown. The Home Office vowed to target the racket after yesterday's investigation by The Sun triggered widespread outrage. 7 7 Meanwhile, asylum seekers continued to brazenly cycle out of taxpayer-funded asylum hotels in Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats uniforms. Police and immigration officers pledged to arrest offenders on street corners and outside their hotels. And Facebook shut down groups flogging illicit Deliveroo and Just Eat accounts. They included a forum with 20,000 members in which dozens of accounts were offered for sale or rent every day. Cops will seize dangerous e-bikes and officials will target the busiest eateries visited by the illegal workers. And next week Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats will be hauled in to Westminster to meet with Border Security and Asylum Minister Angela Eagle to demand they step up in combating the scandal. The moves come after The Sun revealed migrants can start earning up to £1,000 a week on apps like Deliveroo and Just Eat within hours of arriving in Britain. 'Face the consequences' This is despite rules banning all migrants in hotels from working as delivery drivers, and barring those who in Britain for less than 12 months from any work at all. The Home Office said: 'We are cracking down on this illegal working tactic not just through new legislation, but with dedicated law enforcement operations. 'We are targeting the most prolific riders both on the streets where they are working, and the hotels where they are staying. Channel migrants queue for cash in hand jobs as secrets of UK's £260bn illegal economy revealed "Immigration enforcement are working hand-in-hand with the police so together they can seize these dangerous bikes, stop this illegal working racket, and ensure that fraudulent asylum-seekers face the consequences.' They added: 'We welcome Facebook's action against pages facilitating illegal working — a crime which undermines honest businesses and undercuts wages. 'The public won't stand for it, and neither will this Government, which is why we know more still needs to be done.' A Downing Street spokesman said: 'It's right that a spotlight is being shone on this racket. 'It undermines honest businesses and undercuts local wages. 'The public rightly won't stand for it, and neither will this Government.' Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wrote to the delivery firms demanding action. 7 He told The Sun: 'The fact illegal immigrants are able to work for companies like Deliveroo within just hours of arriving in the UK is a disgrace. 'This increases the 'pull factor' that attracts illegal immigrants to travel from France to the UK. 'The companies deserve to be prosecuted and substantially fined. 'Home Secretary Yvettte Cooper's failure to stop this is shocking. 'I congratulate the Sun for your work in uncovering this scandal.' Hotels named as hubs in our investigation included the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, where bikes are strewn and brazen illegal workers were yesterday still seen leaving in fast-food firm uniforms. The fact that it took this long shows how willing the entire industry was to turn a blind eye. Source We told how asylum seekers being housed and fed in hotels across the country were exploiting a loophole allowing legitimate account holders to sub-let work. On one online forum we found multiple posts offering accounts listed by place names. Many users hid behind anonymous accounts using nicknames. A source welcomed Facebook taking action, but added: 'The fact that it took this long shows how willing the entire industry was to turn a blind eye. 'These accounts were the critical artery and were so useful to anyone trying to get a job while living in a hotel. 'Now that is gone.' Last night Deliveroo said: 'We have zero tolerance for any misuse of our platform and any accounts which fail to meet their legal obligations will be offboarded.' 'All riders, including substitutes, must complete right-to-work checks including daily identity verification.' 7 Sources said the firm was also working on new ways to combat illegal work at migrant hotels following our probe. Just Eat said: 'We set clear standards and requirements for those who deliver on our behalf. 'We are continuously strengthening our approach to ensure anyone who delivers through Just Eat's platform has the right to work in the UK.' It said it had right-to-work checks and had added random facial recognition tests for couriers. Uber said: 'All couriers who use the Uber Eats app must undergo checks to ensure they have a legal right to work in the UK. 'Working with the Home Office and the rest of industry, Uber Eats has launched new detection tools to crack down on anyone attempting to work illegally on our platform.' PLANS 'IMPOSSIBLE' By Julia Atherley THE UK's borders watchdog has admitted he does not think the Government's plans to end the use of asylum hotels will work. David Bolt, Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, said there is not enough housing stock to make it happen by the end of this Parliament He told the Lords Justice and Home Affairs committee: 'I don't think it will be achieved, frankly.' Mr Bolt also said he did not believe that targeting the smuggling gangs will stop small-boats crossings of the Channel. A No10 spokesman said of his comments: 'I don't accept that. The Government is committed to restoring grip to the asylum system.' Currently, 210 asylum hotels are in use, costing £4million a day.
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Migrants housed in asylum hotels at taxpayer's expense 'get jobs as fast food delivery riders' in new illegal working scandal
Migrants living in taxpayer-funded asylum hotels are securing work as fast food delivery riders within hours of entering Britain, it has emerged. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said he had found evidence of asylum seekers breaking rules which bar them from working while their claim is processed by the Home Office. The Tory politician visited an asylum hotel in central London and posted a video showing bicycles fitted with delivery boxes for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats parked outside. In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper he urged her to begin action against all three firms and 'take urgent steps to stop illegal working from the very hotels that you are responsible for running '. Separately, it emerged that Deliveroo and Just Eat delivery accounts were being offered to migrants 'within 10 minutes of asking' through social media groups. Migrants were paying as little as £40 a week for other people's login details as riders for the delivery companies – a loophole the firms pledged to address more than a year ago. Bikes with household name delivery bags were found parked outside the asylum hotel in a video posted online by Shadow home secretary Chris Philp An undercover reporter posing as a small-boat arrival from Afghanistan was 'quickly flooded with offers from all over the country', the Sun reported. In his letter to the Home Secretary, Mr Philp said: 'Labour claim to be cracking down on illegal working, yet this is happening at the very hotels your Home Office is running, and which are being funding by taxpayer's money. 'This is important, as the ability to work illegally is a pull factor for illegal immigration and is fuelling the illegal immigration crisis.' In separate letters to the three delivery companies he urged them to 'commit to removing any driver as a courier who does not have the right to work in the UK, including at this hotel site and also elsewhere'. He added: 'I would be grateful if you would set out what further specific steps you will take (above what you currently do, which is evidently not working) in relation to this site and more generally to prevent illegal working. The Tory frontbencher found delivery bikes parked outside the central London asylum hotel 'I will be writing to the Home Secretary to urge her to take urgent action via Immigration Enforcement against your company.' In April last year the firms agreed to close the loophole permitting riders to give jobs to 'substitutes' – meaning people with no right to work in the UK were able to get employment. Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats said they would introduce additional checks on 'account sharing' following talks with the Home Office. The Home Office said it amounted to a 'significant' change which would 'protect the British public's safety' from unvetted riders. The then Conservative minister for countering illegal migration, Michael Tomlinson, said at the time: 'Illegal working puts their customers at risk, drives down wages and defrauds the taxpayer. 'It is vital that we shut down any loophole that allows it to happen.' The loophole highlighted concerns about the largely unregulated 'gig economy'. A Deliveroo spokesman said at the time: 'We are the first major platform to roll out direct right to work checks, a registration process and identity verification technology to ensure that only substitutes with right to work can continue riding on our platform.' Representatives for Uber Eats and Just Eat said in April last year they were working on implementing the checks. A Home Office spokesman said: 'Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages – the public won't stand for it and neither will this government. 'That's why we have taken swift action to launch a nationwide crackdown on illegal working, with arrests up by 51 per cent since we took office. 'On top of that, our Borders Bill is changing the law to end the abuse of flexible working arrangements.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Channel migrants working as delivery drivers within hours of arriving
Channel migrants are working as fast-food delivery riders within hours of arriving in the UK, according to an investigation by The Sun newspaper. The newspaper said Deliveroo and Just Eat delivery accounts were being offered to migrants 'within 10 minutes of asking' through social media groups. The Sun said its investigators and undercover reporters had found that migrants staying in asylum hotels across the country were joining dozens of social media groups dedicated to offering food delivery accounts for rent. According to the newspaper's investigation, migrants were paying as little as £40 a week for login details. Migrants worked 15-hour shifts using their hotels as a base for their bikes, bags and uniforms and could make hundreds of pounds a week with guarantees from account dealers that they would not be caught. The Sun said an undercover reporter posing as a small-boat arrival from Afghanistan was 'quickly flooded with offers from all over the country'. It published photographs alongside the story that it said were of men leaving migrant hotels wearing branded delivery bags on their backs. On Tuesday, shadow home secretary Chris Philp posted a message on X saying he made an unannounced visit to an asylum hotel last Friday and found 'clear evidence' of illegal working for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats. In a letter to all three firms, Mr Philp wrote: 'These illegal immigrants are not allowed to work as delivery drivers while their asylum claim is pending, but when I looked in the bike store in the hotel, I saw delivery bags for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats on the bikes.' He continued: 'Please can you commit to removing any driver … as a courier who does not have the right to work in the UK, including at this hotel site and elsewhere. I would be grateful if you could set out what further specific steps you will take (above what you currently do, which is evidently not working) in relation to this site and more generally to prevent illegal working.' He added: 'This is important, as the ability to work illegally is a pull factor for illegal immigration and by allowing this to happen on your platform you are fuelling the illegal immigration crisis.' The Home Office, Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have been approached for comment.
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
Channel migrants working as delivery drivers within hours of arriving
Channel migrants are working as fast-food delivery riders within hours of arriving in the UK, according to an investigation by The Sun newspaper. The newspaper said Deliveroo and Just Eat delivery accounts were being offered to migrants 'within 10 minutes of asking' through social media groups. The Sun said its investigators and undercover reporters had found that migrants staying in asylum hotels across the country were joining dozens of social media groups dedicated to offering food delivery accounts for rent. According to the newspaper's investigation, migrants were paying as little as £40 a week for login details. Migrants worked 15-hour shifts using their hotels as a base for their bikes, bags and uniforms and could make hundreds of pounds a week with guarantees from account dealers that they would not be caught. The Sun said an undercover reporter posing as a small-boat arrival from Afghanistan was 'quickly flooded with offers from all over the country'. It published photographs alongside the story that it said were of men leaving migrant hotels wearing branded delivery bags on their backs. On Tuesday, shadow home secretary Chris Philp posted a message on X saying he made an unannounced visit to an asylum hotel last Friday and found 'clear evidence' of illegal working for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats. In a letter to all three firms, Mr Philp wrote: 'These illegal immigrants are not allowed to work as delivery drivers while their asylum claim is pending, but when I looked in the bike store in the hotel, I saw delivery bags for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats on the bikes.' He continued: 'Please can you commit to removing any driver … as a courier who does not have the right to work in the UK, including at this hotel site and elsewhere. I would be grateful if you could set out what further specific steps you will take (above what you currently do, which is evidently not working) in relation to this site and more generally to prevent illegal working.' He added: 'This is important, as the ability to work illegally is a pull factor for illegal immigration and by allowing this to happen on your platform you are fuelling the illegal immigration crisis.' The Home Office, Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have been approached for comment.
