Welcome to a Special Bulletin from Migrants Rights News! June 2008
The UK Border Agency’s recent ‘name and shame’ list shows that the overwhelming
majority of businesses fined during May for the employment of undocumented migrants
were black and minority ethnic takeaway shops and restaurants. The release of this
information supports wider concerns, expressed at the launch meeting of a major Home
Affairs Committee inquiry, about the negative impact of the Points-Based System (PBS) on
ethnic minority businesses.
The employer ‘civil penalty’ list1, released on the UKBA website on 19th June, outlines the 34
businesses which were subject to fines across the UK during May 2008. Business names
suggest that 21 were either ‘Indian’ (including Bangladeshi and Pakistani) or ‘Chinese’
restaurants or takeaways – amounting to 62% of all the fines. A further 7% were Turkish
businesses. Civil penalty fines incurred by businesses ranged from £5,000 to £22,500, for the
employment of between one and three irregular migrants per employer. Details of the fines
were also released to the media, generating significant local and national coverage.
The basis on which UKBA targeted the employers in question for public penalty is not clear.
Despite the high level of publicity, last month’s employer civil penalty fines related to a total
of just 55 undocumented migrant workers. With a population of approximately 500,000
irregular migrants living in the UK, it seems unlikely that small ethnic minority businesses
are the ‘big players’ in the employment of undocumented workers.
In discussion with concerned community organisations in South Wales in early 2008, an
UKBA representative stated that the practice of enforcement officers was to engage in
‘intelligence-led’ operations directed against sectors where the employment of
undocumented migrants was believed to be common. He declined to answer questions
about the nature of this intelligence, on the grounds that this might compromise operations.
The apparent focus of workplace raids by enforcement officers on small Asian businesses
suggests a strategy aimed at achieving ‘quick hits’, despite the emerging impact on the
communities concerned.
Home Affairs Committee Inquiry
As this controversy gathers pace, the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons
has decided to launch an inquiry into the impact of the Points-Based System (PBS) on
1 Find the list of employers which have received civil penalty fines at the UKBA website -
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/listemployerspenaltiesspecific sectors, including the ethnic catering industry2. The Committee cites as one of the
reasons for the inquiry:
‘There have been many concerns raised about the new system, including the information
provided to businesses about their requirements and the delay in processing applications.
The catering industry has also raised major concerns about the effect they believe this
system will have on their employees. It is vital that we look at the validity of these
concerns’3.
The launch meeting of the Committee, held on 23rd June, generated significant debate
about the impact of the PBS on ethnic minority communities. A number of individuals from
the Bangladeshi and Chinese catering sectors registered their concern about the Points-
Based System (PBS) as a basis for immigration management. Many fear that the PBS will
limit the possibilities for non-EEA visa applicants wishing to work in the catering sector,
leaving small businesses understaffed. Ethnic catering industries contain a high proportion
of family-run enterprises with little capacity for dealing with the complicated bureaucracy of
the immigration control system.
In March the Chinese Immigration Concern Community organised a mass meeting at the
Euston Road Friends Meeting House in London to set out their concerns about new
measures under the PBS. The Bangladeshi Caterers Association has also voiced criticism of
the impact of recent immigration policy on Asian restaurant owners in the UK, holding an
open air rally in Trafalgar Square on 20th April with a reported attendance of 20,000 people.
These groups continue to claim that the impact of PBS and increased Home Office raids on
ethnic minority businesses is destructive and unfair.
The absence of safeguards against race discrimination in the development of immigration
policy is an ongoing issue. The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality (IAN) Act 2006 was
criticised during its formulation for the inadequacy of the Race Equality Impact Assessment.
The Commission for Racial Equality (now subsumed into the Equalities and Human Rights
Commission) commented at the time: ‘We believe that the provisions combating illegal
working may stigmatise ethnic minorities in the workplace, impact on the employment of
legal migrants and UK ethnic minorities, and have the potential to have adverse effects on
good race relations’.4
The Home Affairs Committee has invited written submission of up to 2500 words from
concerned groups on the impact of the PBS thus far, by Monday 14th July. The MRN intends
to make a full response to the inquiry. We also urge other groups with concerns about the
impact of the Points-Based System on BME employers and/or workers to make a
submission.
2
www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/home_affairs_committee/hacpn080605no43.cfm3 Home Affairs Committee News Release 5th June 2008
4 CRE briefing to the House of Lords, third reading of the IAN Bill, 10 March 2006
http://83.137.212.42/sitearchive/cre/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0bm.RefLocID-0hg00900f006.Lang-EN.htmPlease contact Don Flynn (d.flynn@migrantsrights.org.uk) or Ruth Grove-White (r.grovewhite@
migrantsrights.org.uk) if you have any further queries. Full details of the call for
evidence can be seen on
www.migrantsrights.org.uk.
