London, June 15: Twenty-three Indians, all illegal immigrants have been arrested in one of the biggest operation by Britain’s immigration officials conducted in west London and the east England town of Norwich.
Twenty-two Indian men were part of a group of migrants arrested following an enforcement swoop on a dairy in Acton, West London, while another Indian whose application for asylum was refused, was arrested along with three Sri Lankans, in Norwich.
The UK Border Agency will now take steps to remove them from the UK. The men were arrested for a variety of immigration offences, including illegal entry, working in breach of their visa conditions, and overstaying their visas.
The dairy has now been warned that it faces a fine of up almost a quarter of a million pounds sterling for employing them.
Assistant Director Olivia Nuttall, head of the UK Border Agency’s Ealing Local Immigration Team, said: “Illegal working is not a victimless crime – it has a serious impact on communities, undercutting wages and taking jobs from those who are genuinely allowed to work in the UK”.
In Norwich, the Indian citizen, whose application for asylum was refused, was arrested along with three Sri Lankans, who were found working illegally in a newsagent’s shop.
Immigration checks revealed that the two members of staff, plus the newspaper delivery person who had just returned from his rounds, were all in the UK illegally.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST