Britain's immigration officials have arrested 23 Indians living as illegal immigrants. The arrests are a part of one of the biggest operation conducted in west London and the east England town of Norwich.
Twenty-two Indian men were part of a group of migrants arrested following an enforcement swoop on a dairy in Acton, West London, while another Indian whose application for asylum was refused, was arrested along with three Sri Lankans, in Norwich.
The UK Border Agency will now take steps to remove them from the UK. The men were arrested for a variety of immigration offences, including illegal entry, working in breach of their visa conditions, and overstaying their visas.
The dairy has now been warned that it faces a fine of up almost a quarter of a million pounds sterling for employing them.
Assistant director Olivia Nuttall, head of the UK Border Agency's Ealing Local Immigration Team said, "Illegal working is not a victimless crime, it has a serious impact on communities, undercutting wages and taking jobs from those who are genuinely allowed to work in the UK".
In Norwich, the Indian citizen, whose application for asylum was refused, was arrested along with three Sri Lankans, who were found working illegally in a newsagent's shop.
Immigration checks revealed that the two members of staff, plus the newspaper delivery person who had just returned from his rounds, were all in the UK illegally.
The three men - a 46-year-old, a 35-year-old and a 45-year-old - were all from Sri Lanka and had overstayed their visas. The 27-year-old failed asylum seeker from India was found in the accommodation above the shop.
All four men were arrested and have been placed in detention while arrangements are made for their removal from the UK. The shop potentially faces a fine of up to £30,000 - £10,000 per illegal worker - unless it can prove that the correct pre-employment checks were carried out.
Inspector Colin Daulby, from the local immigration team Norfolk said, "If people want to work in the UK, there are ways they can apply to come here legitimately.
If they decide to ignore immigration laws, we will find them and look to remove them from the country."
He added, "Anyone in Norfolk who employs a foreign national without permission to work is breaking the law and undermining law-abiding businesses. Employers have a legal responsibility to carry out the right checks." The civil penalty system is in operation to tackle employers who fail to carry out proper checks on workers from outside Europe.
A fine of up to £10,000 per worker can be imposed for every illegal worker found at a company.
