Figures have revealed that Indian citizens top the UK government’s list of illegal migrants, accounting for more than twice the number of Nigeria, which takes second position.
The news comes as several Indian citizens were included in the arrest of hundreds of people between January and June, which took place as part of a new drive to prevent UK employers from hiring individuals without the correct UK visa.
Known as Operation Magnify, the latest drive to tackle UK immigration issues led to the arrest of 200 following raids on 253 properties across cities such as London and Leicester in the first six months of 2017.
The issue of the large number of Indian illegal immigrants in the UK has already been raised by Prime Minister Theresa May, who suggested that the UK visa terms offered to India could be improved if the country increased the speed and volume with which it removes its illegal citizens from Britain.
Although official figures are yet to be released, a UK government spokesman has suggested that Indian citizens currently account for more than 100,000 of the illegal immigrants in Britain. Meanwhile, other immigrants were found to have travelled from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and Albania, among others.
As part of the latest operation, run by the police with the help of officials from a number of additional organisations, landlords who were housing illegal immigrants were fined up to £3,000 per person, regardless of whether they were living within the housing or in sheds or gardens.
Commenting on the success of the operation, UK immigration Brandon Lewis said: “These operations show that we will not tolerate people living and working illegally in the UK. Illegal working cheats the taxpayer, has a negative impact on the wages of lawful workers and allows rogue employers to undercut legitimate businesses.”