Factory workers arrested in immigration crackdown

Police, along with UK Border Agency officers, raided a factory warehouse in Manchester and arrested 23 of the 65 occupants on suspicion of working illegally in the country. The workers, 21 men and two women, aged in their mid 20s and early 40s, from Pakistan and Afghanistan are being held as part of a nationwide crackdown by immigration officials. Frightened workers were found hiding in the building, some on the roof, as police raided the premises early on November 11th along with the Department of Work and Pensions, trading standards and the Health and Safety Executive.

The arrests followed months of surveillance of Majid House, an old mill complex housing over 20 separate businesses situated in the Ardwick district of Manchester. Most of the businesses produce knitwear and textiles for the wholesale industry and was the centre of another immigration scandal earlier this year with an investigation of TNS Knitwear who ran a sweatshop in the building employing migrant workers as almost slave labour, on less than half minimum wage in appalling conditions, to produce best selling top fashion range for Primark.

Due to their precarious legal status many immigrant workers are still unable to demand better conditions for fear of being handed over to the authorities with the risk of detention and deportation.

The raid came just days before the government published a new set of proposals concerning its future immigration policy. Under measures in the draft Immigration bill, the current five application categories available to migrants will be replaced by one clear concept – ‘permission’ to be in the UK. With this new approach, migrant workers in the UK must granted permission or face immediate removal for breaking the law.

These proposals are the next step in New Labour’s policy of tightening Britain’s border controls, along with a tough new set of conditions proposed for those on immigration bail, including restrictions on residence, work or study; access to public funds; and reporting and electronic monitoring.

The government has also published proposals for a new streamlined asylum support system. The suggested shake-up includes proposals to reward those who play by the rules and getting tough with those who do not; streamline the current complex system of support; and do more to ensure the system works towards the return of those who have been found to have no protection needs and who have no right to be in the UK.