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Exeter Office

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The UK Border Agency announced on 31 December 2009 that employers in Dorset caught employing illegal migrant workers were fined almost £120,000 during 2009. And almost 140 immigration offenders have been removed from the UK this year after being found living or working illegally in Dorset.

The UK Border Agency Dorset team, based in Poole, carries out operations against suspected immigration offenders across the county and in parts of neighbouring Wiltshire and Somerset. Between January and December, it carried out 36 illegal working raids at businesses suspected of employing foreign staff who had no legal right to work in the UK.

In most cases where illegal workers were found, the employers were issued with a 'notice of potential liability' warning that they faced fines of up to £10,000 per illegal worker unless they could provide evidence that they carried out checks (such as asking for a passport or another Home Office document) before employing the workers.

These notices were issued to most of the businesses visited - and fines totalling £117,500 have so far been confirmed for 14 of those businesses.

A total of 138 Dorset immigration offenders were removed from the UK during 2009 after being detained in illegal working raids, visits to residential properties and other immigration operations.

Illegal working raids in Dorset this year included the following:
In Weymouth on 14 October, three Chinese and two Malaysian men were found to be working illegally at the Sea View restaurant on the Pier Bandstand, The Esplanade. UK Border Agency Officers handed out an on-the-spot notice, warning the employers they would receive a large fine unless they provided proof that the necessary document checks had been carried out.

When officers visited the Bollywood Tandoori restaurant in Lower Blandford Road, Broadstone on 23 September, they found that none of the five workers present - all of whom were from Bangladesh - had permission to work in the UK. No evidence was produced that the necessary document checks had been carried out, and the business was recently fined £25,000.

Four Israeli illegal workers were removed from the UK after they were found to be working illegally selling beauty products on stalls inside Poole's Dolphin Centre on 17 November. Earlier in the year, four more Israeli illegal workers were removed from the UK after working illegally on stalls inside the Dolphin Centre.

The Wales and South West news section of the UK Border Agency website contains details of other illegal working operations in Dorset this year.

Jane Farleigh, the UK Border Agency's Wales and South West regional director, said:
'Our raids targeting illegal working are all part of an ongoing crackdown to reduce the attractiveness of the UK to illegal immigrants. Anyone who takes on a foreign national without permission to work in the UK is breaking the law, undermining law-abiding businesses and facing a big fine.
'This year alone, businesses breaking the law in Dorset have been fined nearly £120,000, and that total is likely to rise. There are strict rules about which foreign nationals can get a job in the UK, and businesses have a clear responsibility to carry out the right checks.
'We also carry out immigration raids outside businesses - such as visits to home addresses and joint operations with the police - so offenders in Dorset have no place to hide.'

If you have any queries about this article or wish to obtain advice on what to do if you have been fined for employing illegal workers, please contact the Immigration Team in Exeter on 01392 210700.