Dhaka, Nov 1 - Twenty five illegal workers from Bangladesh have been detained in several enforcement operations on businesses and private addresses across the United Kingdom, a press statement British High Commission in Dhaka has said.
A Bangladeshi restaurant owner has also been jailed for immigration offences, it said on Tuesday.
The UK Border Agency is now working to remove all twenty five from the UK as soon as possible, it added.
The illegal workers have been arrested during over six weeks of enforcement operations across England, Wales and Scotland - Devon, Cornwall, Gloucester, Hereford, Buckinghamshire, Newcastle upon Tyne, Aberdeen and South Wales, it said.
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," the statement quoted a UK Border Agency spokesperson as saying.
"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 six months by Carlisle Crown Court for trying to cheat UK Immigration Rules by employing and accommodating illegal migrants.
A police spokesperson, working as part of the UK Border Agency team, said: "This is an example of a man who disregarded the law in order to profit from employing illegal immigrants who work for little or no pay and receive a poor standard of accommodation.
"These issues are taken very seriously and police officers work in partnership with immigration officers to ensure we have an effective, joined up approach to tackling the problem.
"Haque has earned a living through the exploitation of his staff and by avoiding taxes and national insurance payments that other legitimate employers would have had to pay."
As part of the investigation, the UK authorities have made an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover the money Haque has earned as a result of his criminal activities.
From:bdnews24.com
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