London: Hundreds of arrests have been made across the UK following a week-long Home Office crackdown on riders working illegally for delivery firms.
Under Operation Equalize, Immigration Enforcement teams carried out a nationwide intensification drive between 20 and 27 July, targeting illegal working hotspots in the gig economy. A total of 1,780 individuals were stopped and questioned, leading to 280 arrests.
As a result, 53 people are having their asylum support reviewed, which could lead to the withdrawal of accommodation and financial assistance. The Home Office warned last month that asylum seekers caught working illegally risk losing their support and could face removal from the UK.
The government on Friday announced a £5 million funding boost for Immigration Enforcement, drawn from the £100 million border security package unveiled earlier this week. Officials said the funding will allow more frequent visits to illegal working hotspots, improve intelligence gathering, and increase frontline enforcement activity.
The operation comes weeks after the Home Office reached an agreement with Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat to share information on the locations of asylum hotels to help identify illegal workers.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum Dame Angela Eagle said the government was “cracking down hard” on illegal working, adding, “This operation is just one example of our relentless efforts to bear down on organised immigration crime at every level in our communities.”
During the week-long operation, officers made three arrests in Dumfries, Scotland, during a joint action with police and Trading Standards on tobacco control. In Birmingham, police seized five e-bikes on 25 July, with two riders of Bangladeshi and Ethiopian nationality arrested for illegal working offences.
Eddy Montgomery, Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime at the Home Office, said his teams had been working “around the clock” to tackle the issue. He welcomed the extra funding, saying it would “strengthen enforcement efforts” to ensure offenders are caught.
The government is also introducing new measures through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which will require all companies, including gig economy platforms, to check workers’ right to work in the UK. Officials said the move is aimed at ending the abuse of flexible work arrangements and undermining smuggling gangs who promise jobs to migrants.
This week, the UK-France treaty to curb small boat crossings came into force, allowing immediate detention and return to France of anyone arriving in the UK by such means. The Home Office said detentions have already begun.
Since taking office a year ago, the government claims to have returned 35,000 people with no right to remain in the UK and reduced the number of asylum hotels in operation, saving millions in public funds.
