§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the letter of 24 August 1998 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien), if the 20 people of Albanian origin who were located in Hounslow after entering the country clandestinely remain in the United Kingdom. [56256]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienShortly after the incident on 3 July, a group of 22 ethnic Albanians from the Kosovo region of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reported to Lunar House in Croydon, saying they had been directed there by the Hounslow police. I believe the two groups are one and the same. They applied for asylum and I understand that their applications are awaiting consideration.
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§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employers have been(a) investigated, (b) charged, (c) prosecuted and (d) convicted under section 8(1) of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, to the latest convenient date. [56464]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo date, the approach of the Immigration Service towards the enforcement of section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 has been that where, in the course of normal operational activity, an employer is found to have breached section 8, they will be advised of its provisions and issued with a warning letter. Among other things, this warns them that, if they continue to offend, consideration will be given to prosecution. There is no central record of the number of such letters which have been issued: and there have been no prosecutions to date.
This will continue to be our normal approach. However, as we made clear in the White Paper "Fairer, Faster and Firmer—A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum", where there is evidence of organised racketeering and the exploitation of vulnerable groups of overseas workers, we will encourage the early referral of the case to the prosecuting authorities.