UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials have arrested five illegal workers in Harrow for UK immigration offences.
After receiving intelligence, the officers conducted a questioning of staff at the Taste of Lahore restaurant on Station Road to ascertain whether or not the staff have the right to work in this country.
They discovered four Pakistani men and one man from Bangladesh – all aged between 19 and 30 – who were in breach of UK immigration conditions. Two of the Pakistani men were in the country illegally having overstayed their UK visas, while the three others were all working in breach of their UK visas.
Paul D'Silva, assistant director at the Harrow and Hillingdon branch of the UKBA, commented on the incident: “We're carrying out operations like this across London almost every day, and where we find people who are in the UK illegally we will seek to remove them.
“But we are also targeting employers who take on illegal workers, fuelling illegal immigration and damaging the UK economy.”
The men have now been placed in detention ahead of their removal from the country. But the employer could face further action. If it is unable to prove that the correct right-to-work checks – such as checking passports and work permits – were conducted prior to hiring the individuals, it could face a fine of up to £10,000 for each illegal worker.
Mr D'Silva added: “Companies who fail to carry out the legally-required checks on staff should know that we are out there looking for them and they will face heavy fines.”