Illegal migrants held in raids on UK Indian restaurants

London, Jan 27 (PTI) Britain's immigration officials
raided three Indian restaurants and a Chinese takeaways joints
in north England and arrested seven illegal migrants from
Bangladesh, China and India working there.

Officers from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) -- responsible
for securing the UK borders, controlling migrations and
enforcing immigrations and customs rules -- visited a string
of restaurants and takeaways after getting tip-offs about
illegal immigrants being employed there.

In a raid on the Rajpooth Indian Restaurant, in Durham
City, three Bangladeshi men were found working illegally.
Also, two illegal migrants from China were arrested from the
'May Flower Chinese Takeaway' joint.

The owners of the two hotels were fined 50,000 pounds for
employing people who did not have the right to work in the UK.
The UKBA authorities also raided 'Gill's Chip Shop' in
Wallsend and arrested an Indian who was working illegally
there.

The team, from UKBA's Tyne enforcement unit, also raided
the Memories of India restaurant in County Durham and arrested
two Bangladeshi men.

"We are working hard to pull the plug on the illegal jobs
which lure illegal immigrants to come to the UK in the first
place," said UKBA North East operations director Steve Lamb.

"Illegal working is unfair on honest employers who
recruit staff with the right to work in the UK and who pay
them a proper salary. Employers who don't play by the rules
face fines and could potentially end up in jail", he added
UKBA has also recently started naming on its website
employers who have been fined under the new rules. PTI