Indians held for UK visa breach

Many Indians are among 200 people arrested in a UK-wide operation targeting illegal migrants living in squalid accommodation between January and June this year, the UK Home Office has said.

The operation was part of Operation Magnify, an ongoing cross-government, intelligence-led campaign to stamp out illegal working in highrisk sectors across the UK.

“Many of those arrested were Indian nationals, but there were also people from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and Albania,” the Home Office said.

During the operation in the first half of this year, officers targeted 253 socalled Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs), arrested 200 people for overstaying their visas or entering the UK illegally and handed out financial penalties to 24 landlords.

As part of case studies released by the UK Home Office last week, seven Indian men aged between 37 and 56, and a 34- yearold Indian woman were arrested at two addresses in Southall area of west London.

Many were found to have overstayed their visa and have voluntarily left the country, while others had entered the UK illegally and efforts are underway to remove them from the country, the Home Office said.

Efforts are ongoing to remove the 30-year-old.

“These operations show that we will not tolerate people living and working illegally in the UK. The Illegal working cheats the taxpayer, has a negative impact on the wages of the lawful workers and also allows the rogue employers to undercut legitimate businesses,” UK immigration minister Brandon Lewis said.