Popular food spots hiding a world
of exploitation
It's Friday night in central London, and immigration officers have intel that a
man is working illegally in a dark kitchen - a collection of faceless businesses in
a warehouse which exclusively offer food delivery and takeaways without the
dining area.
Officers enter a hot, cramped kitchen in force, where they find a chef cooking
alone.
A camera perched on a shelf nearby is seemingly monitoring his every move as
orders on a tiny electronic machine ping in thick and fast.
Officers arrest the man for overstaying his visa and working illegally. He is
calm, compliant, but clearly stressed.
The raid, which I joined, is part of a Home Office crackdown on illegal
working and focused on popular food spots in the capital.
Sean Whippy is the chief immigration officer at Immigration Compliance and
Enforcement (ICE) in central London.
He says dark kitchens can be problematic as they're away from the public eye.
"If they're tucked away, who is monitoring that? There is nowhere for the
public to report bad working conditions.
"Dark kitchens run 24/7 - that's what their licenses will allow them to do. So we
have to find out what shifts he's working."
Illegal working arrests up by 40%
Since July 2024 Immigration Enforcement has carried out 6,784 illegal working
visits to premises and made 4,779 arrests – an increase of 40% and 42%
compared to the same period 12 months ago.
In that time, 1,508 civil penalty notices have been issued, with employers facing
fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.
Arrests can also lead to director disqualifications, and in serious cases, a prison
sentence of up to five years.
Illegal workers arrested are either placed on immigration bail, or if they have
no right to be in the UK, may be deported through voluntary or enforced means.
The man arrested in the dark kitchen is taken home to collect his belongings
and is found to be living in overcrowded, squalid conditions.
He is placed on strict immigration bail and is required to report regularly to
the Home Office.
Those who claim asylum in the UK are not normally allowed to work while their
claim is considered.
The Home Office usually provides accommodation support and a weekly
allowance to cover other essential living needs, which is £49.18 per person in
self-catered accommodation and £8.86 per person in catered accommodation.
Paid less than £1 an hour
One 17-year-old asylum seeker has told the BBC he turned to illegal work as he
was "unable to survive on the allowance".
Ali - not his real name - arrived in the UK from Turkey in 2023. He began
working for less than £1 an hour in a north London barbers.
"My shifts were 12 hours. They were paying me £50 per week.
"Yes, it is illegal, but a 16,17,18 year old young woman or man has additional
costs and they have to work because the family has no money. The people they
know have no money. You start life a little younger here."
Ali, who quit the job and is now in college, says he lived in fear of being found
out.
"It's such a terrible feeling. You have to work because you need it.
"You ask yourself, if I'm caught, will they send me back? Or will they give me a
prison sentence?
"Or what kind of punishment will they give me? There are even some times
when I go to bed at night, I couldn't sleep. This is also a difficult situation."
Later in the evening, officers attend a busy restaurant in central London where
they have previously arrested individuals for illegal working. They have intel
that there are more.
It's peak service, and diners stare perplexed as immigration officers walk
through the narrow alleyway of the restaurant in force.
In the cramped basement kitchen everybody is questioned including one man
found hiding in a back room.
Two students are arrested for potentially breached their working visa
conditions.
In a busy stairwell downstairs, they are questioned for hours about work rotas
and payslips as the officers try to find evidence of illegal working.
They are later de-arrested due to a lack of evidence.
'Rise in asylum seekers turning to
illegal work'
The Refugee Workers Cultural Association has seen a rise in asylum seekers
turning to illegal work.
Chairperson Ibrahim Avcil believes legislation reform is needed "in favour of
asylum seekers enabling them to work as they arrive in the UK".
He added: "Because rather than people working without paying taxes, it is
always beneficial for people to work and pay their taxes here in the UK."
Home Office statistics published on Thursday reveal 748 fines were issued to
businesses for employing illegal workers in the last quarter (January to March) -
marking the highest level since 2016 and a 29% increase compared to the same
time last year.
Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, said:
"Enforcement teams across the UK are working tirelessly to stop illegal working
and the exploitation of vulnerable people.
"Clamping down on illegal working in all its forms is a critical part of this
government's plan to strengthen the entire immigration system and disable the
people smuggling gangs who sell false promises to migrants about their ability
to work in the UK."
The government is introducing new laws on illegal working through the Border
Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill by extending Right to Work checks on
those hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like
construction, food delivery, beauty salons and courier services.
VOCABULARY
Intel- secret information, for example about another country's government,
an enemy group, or criminal activities:
Compliant- /kəmˈplaɪ.ənt/willing to do what other people want you to do
tuck away-to put something in a private, safe place
Premises-the land and buildings owned by someone, especially by
a company or organization
Bail-an amount of money that a person who has been accused of a crime pays to
a law court so that they can be released until their trial. The payment is a way of
making certain that the person will return to court for trial
immigration bail-a legal option that allows individuals detained to be
temporarily released while their case is being assessed.
Breach-an act of breaking a law, promise, agreement, or relationship
work rota- (also known as a schedule or roster) is a document, file or plan
which lists the employees who need to do a certain shift, the dates and times
at which they are scheduled to do it and their responsibilities.
Payslip-a piece of paper given to someone who is employed to show how
much money they have earned and how much tax has been taken off.
Clamp down on-to
take strong action to stop or limit a harmful or unwanted activity.
Asylum and Immigration Bill-The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration
Bill creates a framework of new, enhanced powers and offences to improve
UK border security and to strengthen the asylum and immigration system.
gig economy- a free market system in which temporary positions are
common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term
commitments.
zero-hours worker- a type of contract between an employer and a worker
according to which the employer is not obliged to provide any minimum
working hours and the worker is not obliged to accept any work offered.
