Seven Indians among 280 arrested in UK crackdown on illegal delivery gig workers
During a week-long crackdown, Immigration Enforcement teams questioned 1,780 people and arrested 280, including Indian, Bangladeshi, and Ethiopian nationals
Several people, including seven Indians, have been arrested in the UK during its week-long crackdown on two-wheeler riders suspected of working illegally for delivery firms in the country.
On Saturday, August 9, the government said the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement (IE) teams recently launched Operation Equalise, under which a “nationwide intensification week of activity” was conducted targeting unlawful working hotspots. The mission’s focus was on the gig economy and migrants who were working as delivery riders, it added.
A total of 1,780 people were stopped and spoken to under the operation between July 20 and 27, resulting in 280 arrests related to illegal working activity, the Home Office said. During one such raid, seven Indian nationals were arrested at Hillingdon in west London. Five of them were detained for illegal work activities.
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The Home Office added that asylum support for 53 individuals was also being reviewed, which could mean their support could either be suspended or withdrawn.
Relentless efforts
Stressing the significance of the crackdown, Dama Angela Eagle, UK Minister for Border Security and Asylum, said, “Illegal working undermines our border security and we’re cracking down hard on it. That’s why we have intensified our enforcement activity right across the UK to crack down on those who think they can evade immigration and employment laws in the UK.”
“This operation is just one example of our relentless efforts to bear down on organised immigration crime at every level in our communities,” the Labour leader added.
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The operation took place following warnings from ministers in July that anyone caught abusing the immigration system flagrantly could have their asylum support ceased, including entitlement to accommodation or payments. The UK would also throw out those found working illegally.
Funding boost
The UK government confirmed the same day that the IE teams will get a funding boost of £5 million to enhance the illegal working intensification activity. The cash injection will be drawn from the £100 million investment for border security announced last week. It is expected that enforcement visits in the coming days will be more intense.
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The aim is for officers to revisit and re-attend illegal working hotspots more frequently and push enforcement teams’ intelligence gathering capabilities to support frontline enforcement activity.
“We continue to intensify our activity against those who think they can get away with working illegally. My teams have been taking action around the clock, all across the country, and I thank them for their hard work, co-operation and skill in dealing with this challenging issue,” said Eddy Montgomery, Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime at the Home Office.
Notices to employers
In addition to the arrests made as part of Operation Equalise, 51 businesses, including car washes, restaurants, and retail premises, were also issued with Civil Penalty Referral Notices.
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This could see them facing hefty fines if they are found to have employed illegal workers and failed to conduct relevant pre-employment checks.
The operation was also supported by police forces across the UK, with officers seizing 71 vehicles throughout the week, including 58 e-bikes, as well as £8,000 in cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act and around £460,000 in illicit cigarettes.
It was also part of a series of measures to tighten the law around illegal migration, including stricter legal requirements for all companies, to ensure that anyone working for them has the legal right to do so through the government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill in the Parliament.
The results of Operation Equalise materialised just weeks after the Home Office unveiled a fresh agreement with top food delivery firms that will see Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat procure new information about the location of asylum hotels to help tackle those working illegally.
On August 3, the UK revealed plans for a new law that would take on criminal gangs behind social media advertisements that encourage dangerous small boat crossings and other forms of illegal immigration into its territory.