Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Twenty five illegal Bangladeshi workers have been arrested in the last six weeks from several immigration enforcement operations on businesses and private addresses across the United Kingdom (UK).
“Twenty two of the men have been detained and the UK Border Agency is now working to remove all twenty five from the UK as soon as possible. A Bangladeshi restaurant owner has also been jailed for immigration offences,” a British High Commission press statement said in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The illegal workers were arrested in enforcement operations across England, Wales and Scotland – Devon, Cornwall, Gloucester, Hereford, Buckinghamshire, Newcastle upon Tyne, Aberdeen and South Wales.
All the men were working illegally in restaurants. These businesses now face fines of up to £10,000 for each illegal worker, unless they can prove that they carried out the correct pre-employment checks.
“It is the legal responsibility of all businesses to check their employees have the right to work in the UK,” a UK Border Agency spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added: “Where we find people who are in the UK illegally, we will seek to remove them. But we also want to send out a strong message to employers. More enforcement operations like this are planned.”
A Bangladeshi restaurant owner, Shafiqul Haque, has been jailed for 6 months by Carlisle Crown Court for trying to cheat UK Immigration Rules by employing and accommodating illegal migrants, the statement added.
BBN/SSR/AD-01Nov11-1:37 pm (BST)
