Many Indians are among 200 people arrested in a UK-wide operation targeting illegal migrants living in squalid accommodation.
The operation was part of Operation Magnify, an ongoing cross-government, intelligence-led campaign to stamp out illegal working in high-risk sectors across the UK.
During the operation in the first half of this year, officers targeted 253 so-called Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs), arrested 200 people for overstaying their visas or entering the UK illegally and handed out financial penalties to 24 landlords.
Seven Indian men aged between 37 and 56 and a 34-year-old Indian woman were arrested at two addresses in Southall area of west London.
Many were found to have overstayed their visa and have voluntarily left the country, while others had entered the UK illegally and efforts are underway to remove them from the country, the Home Office said.
Four other Indian men, aged 28, 30 and two aged 47, found at an accommodation in the city of Leicester were found to have overstayed their visas.
The two 47-year-olds were removed from the UK while the 28-year-old left the country voluntarily. Efforts are ongoing to remove the 30-year-old.
Operation Magnify is the UK government’s ongoing initiative supported by agencies such as HM Revenue and Customs, the Health and Safety Executive and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, for a combined enforcement approach against exploitative employers who provide low-paid jobs to illegal migrants.
Immigration Enforcement officers and police are trained to identify individuals who are subject to exploitation, human trafficking and modern slavery during such raids.
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