200 held in swoop on homes housing migrants

TWO hundred illegal migrants have been arrested in a crackdown on houses packed with foreign workers by dodgy landlords.

More than 250 properties were raided during the blitz on the often squalid accommodation used by migrants who do not have permission to be in Britain.

Many of those arrested were Indian nationals, but there were also workers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and Albania.

They were offered support if they chose to leave the country voluntarily, or told they faced deportation if they refused.

Some 24 landlords caught in the six-month operation were fined up to £3,000 for every illegal worker found living in their houses.

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said: ‘These operations show that we will not tolerate people living and working illegally in the UK. Illegal working cheats the taxpayer, has a negative impact on the wages of lawful workers and allows rogue employers to undercut legitimate businesses.’

He added that illegal workers often found themselves at the mercy of ‘exploitative’ employers or landlords and were forced to live in overcrowded accommodation that often lacked even the most basic facilities.

‘Those unscrupulous landlords flout the rules by knowingly renting property to illegal migrants as an easy source of profit,’ said Mr Lewis. ‘We are committed to tackling abuse and building an immigration system which works in the best interests of the country.’

In the series of swoops, codenamed Operation Magnify, officers raided 253 properties across the country between January and June. Landlords were fined if they could not show proof they had checked the immigration status of their tenants by asking to see their passport and immigration papers.

Of the 200 people arrested, most had overstayed their visas but some had also entered the UK illegally.

‘At the mercy of exploitative employers’