§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants from China could not be deported in each year since 1997 because the Chinese authorities refused to take them; and if he will make a statement. [163198]
§ Mr. BrowneInformation on the number of Chinese nationals who could not be returned to China due to the Chinese authorities refusing to accept them is not available.
Deportations are a specific subset of removals alongside persons subject to administrative removal, removal due to illegal entry action or those refused entry at port and subsequently removed. Information on the nationality of those people removed as a result of deportation action is not available.
Our ability to effect removals to the country of origin is crucial in tackling illegal immigration, and we expect the co-operation of source countries in this regard. The Chinese Government have very strict conditions for re-documenting their citizens and will only accept their return once they have verified their exact identity. This causes problems for many countries that wish to repatriate Chinese illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers, as those who do not wish to return are careful to conceal their true identity. Chinese officials seconded to the Immigration Service have recently provided assistance in identifying Chinese nationals to enable their return. We are now working on an arrangement to make this assistance permanent.
We have made it clear to the Chinese Government that we urgently need to find a solution to the problem of re-documenting those who continue to conceal their identity in order to frustrate return, and are working together to find a way forward to enable us to significantly increase returns to China.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what measures are in place to stop businesses employing illegal immigrants; [155283]
(2) what measures are in place to deter employers from employing illegal migrants. [159605]
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§ Mr. BrowneThe current principal control on employers to prevent the use of illegal labour is section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. Section 8 makes it an offence to employ someone over the age of 16 who is subject to immigration control unless that person has current and valid permission to be in the United Kingdom and that permission does not prevent him or her from taking the job in question; or that person comes into a category where such employment is otherwise allowed. At present, an employer can be fined up to £5,000 per illegal employee on summary conviction for an offence under section 8.
On 16 March we announced changes, via secondary legislation, to strengthen the security of the document checks employers must carry out on prospective employees under section 8 to establish a statutory defence from prosecution.
The changes will make it easier for compliant employers to ensure that their work force can work in the UK, and for the Immigration Service to identify and prosecute the small minority of non-compliant employers who knowingly or negligently employ illegal workers.
The Government recognises the widespread concern, especially in the wake of the recent Morecambe Bay tragedy, about the use of illegal labour and is also supporting the Private Members Bill introduced by my hon. friend, the member for Renfrewshire West (Jim Sheridan) on the licensing of gangmasters. More generally, we are increasing illegal working enforcement activity.
Between April and June 2003 the Immigration Service reported carrying out 79 illegal working operations of which 27 were aimed at detecting five or more illegal workers. Between October and November last year the number of reported operations increased by over 75 per cent. on the second quarter to 141, while the operations aimed at detecting five or more illegal workers rose by over 175 per cent. to 75.
In the four month period fro in the beginning of November 2003 to the end of February 2004 UKIS reported carrying out 18 enforcement operations at farms and packhouses where labour providers were involved. These operations led to the removal of over a hundred immigration offenders. A further 11 operations involving labour providers are also scheduled or being planned.
Earlier this month, two major investigations involving the police supported by UKIS resulted in the conviction of gangmasters for very serious criminal offences. In March, six labour providers with the company Ultimate Source were convicted at Kings Lynn Crown Court of various offences in connection with the supply of illegal workers. On 16 March, the labour provider and his son were found guilty of charges including conspiracy to defraud and facilitating the entry of illegal immigrants into the UK. Both have been sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
Where the Immigration Service encounters illegal workers, it seeks to remove them from the United Kingdom.