Restaurant raid nets 15 illegal workers
Staff found in breach of visit visas
FIFTEEN illegal immigrants were caught working at a West Drayton restaurant by the Home Office.
Illegal workers from China and Indonesia were arrested at London Hong Kong in Bath Road, during an operation by Home Office Immigration Enforcement.
Officers visited West Drayton at about 1pm on Saturday November 7 and questioned staff on whether they had the right to live and work in the UK. The 15 people who were working at the business illegally included seven people from Indonesia, two women aged 39 and 61 who had overstayed their visit visas, and five men aged 27, 37, 36, 45 and 46. The first two were working in breach of their visit visa conditions and the final three had overstayed their visit visas.
All of these individuals subsequently chose to leave the UK voluntarily the evening of their arrest.
A further six were arrested and detained while steps are taken to remove them from the UK.
These included three Chinese women aged 24, 30 and 49, the first was working in breach of her student visa conditions and the others had entered the UK illegally.
There were also two Chinese men aged 25 and 48, the first had overstayed his student visa, and the second had entered the UK illegally, and an Indonesian man aged 26 who was working in breach of his visit visa conditions. Finally, a 40-year-old Chinese man who had entered the UK illegally was ordered to report regularly to the Home Office, and a Chinese female under the age of 18, who had also entered the UK illegally, was released into the care of an appropriate adult. Their cases will be progressed.
Sarah Burton, assistant director at West London Home Office Immigration Enforcement said: “Our Immigration Enforcement teams regularly carry out operations such as this to make sure the rules around illegal working are enforced.
“Businesses must carry out simple checks on their employees or face the prospect of a financial penalty.”
London Hong Kong restaurant was served a notice warning that a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker found, will be imposed unless the employer can demonstrate that the correct right to work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document.
If proof is not provided, this is a potential total of up to £300,000. Ms Burton added: “We rely on information from members of the public and I would urge anyone with specific and detailed information about suspected immigration abuse to get in touch.”
Landlords in England will be obliged to check that any new tenant has the ‘ Right to Rent’ and see evidence of citizenship from February 1 next year or face a £3,000 fine per tenant under new rules.