A total of six immigrants have been arrested in restaurants in Wales after immigration checks confirmed that they did not have the required UK work permits and visas to be in the country.
Raids by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) were conducted on January 12th and 13th in the towns of Pontypool and Merthyr Tydhil.
The officers found two men, aged 20 and 31, who had remained in the country after their UK visas had expired, as well as a 36-year-old man who had entered the country illegally to begin with at the Qmin restaurant on Merthry Tydfil high street.
Meanwhile, at the Jewel Balti in Pontypool, three more illegal workers were found, all of whom were from Bangladesh. A 31-year-old man and a 33-year-old man were shown to have overstayed their UK visas, while a 25-year-old man was found to be working in breach of his student visa conditions.
While the employees are held in detention or processed through the deportation system, the businesses that took them on are facing fines of up to £10,000 for each worker unless they are able to provide evidence showing that the correct pre-employment checks were carried out.
Richard Johnson, UKBA immigration inspector in South Wales, commented: “The UK Border Agency will target employers who ignore the rules and remove people who have no right to be in the UK.
“We're happy to work with businesses to let them know what checks need to be done on staff, but those who do break the law should know that we are out there looking for them and they will face heavy fines.”