3 people have been arrested – with 1 of them being detained – following a fresh immigration raid on the Island, this time at Tamarind in Newport.
Acting on intelligence, Immigration Enforcement officers visited Tamarind Indian Restaurant, Upper St James Street at around 17:45 yesterday, where staff were questioned to check whether they had the right to live and work in the UK.
Officers arrested 2 men from Bangladesh – a 27-year-old who had overstayed his visa and a 48-year-old who had entered the UK illegally. The younger man has been detained while steps are taken to remove him from the UK. The other man has been ordered to report regularly to Immigration Enforcement while his case is progressed.
Tamarind Indian Restaurant will now be served with a notice warning that a financial penalty of up to £20,000 for 2 illegal workers unless they can demonstrate that appropriate right to work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document confirming permission to work. This is a potential total of up to £40,000.
A 36-year-old Bangladeshi man was also arrested in an alleyway nearby for overstaying his visit visa. He must report regularly to Immigration Enforcement while action is taken on his case.
This latest raid comes less than 3 weeks after 5 men were arrested and detained at two establishments in Shanklin.
Carla Johnson, of the South Central Immigration Enforcement team, said:
“All employers need to take responsibility for carrying out ‘right to work’ checks on their staff – doing so means businesses can avoid the disruption of a visit from our officers and potentially a heavy fine.
Article continues below this advertisement “Illegal working defrauds the Treasury, depriving vital public services like schools and hospitals of funds, it undercuts honest businesses and it cheats legitimate job seekers of employment opportunities. It also exploits some of society’s most vulnerable people.
“We are determined to crack down on businesses who choose not to play by the rules and we will find and remove anyone in the UK illegally.”
Information to help employers carry out checks to prevent illegal working can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employers-illegal-working-penalties. It includes a quick answer right-to-work tool to help employers check if someone has the right to work in the UK.
People with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact https://www.gov.uk/report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
