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A selection of recent media reports

UK Border Agency admits up to 180,000 migrants remain 'in UK illegally'
Up to 181,000 migrants who should have gone home over the past two...
London Evening Standard (15-Mar-2011)

Warning over foreign workers in UK illegally
At least 181,000 foreign workers and other migrants could be in the...
Telegraph.co.uk (By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor) (15-Mar-2011)

UK likely to axe more jobs from the Skilled Occupation List for Tier 2 Visa
The Migration Advisory Committee set up by the previous UK Government..
UK Immigration (15-Mar-2011)

How the UK Border Agency lost track of 180,000 migrants on expired visas
An astonishing 181,000 migrants whose right to live in Britain has...
Mail Online (Jack Doyle) (15-Mar-2011)

Britain to resumes enforced return of failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe
Britain will resume packing failed asylum seekers back to...
Mail Online (Daily Mail Reporter) (14-Mar-2011)

Vicars charged over sham marriages
Two clergymen have been charged following a sham marriages probe, the..
Press Association (14-Mar-2011)

ZIMBABWE ASYLUM RETURNS TO RESUME
Britain will resume enforcing the return of failed asylum...
Express.co.uk (14-Mar-2011)

Government migrant worker plans could boost accountancy jobs prospects for Britons
Growing numbers of accountancy jobs could be set to open up for...
Badenoch & Clark Insight (14-Mar-2011)

LE PEN TOURS ITALY IMMIGRANT CENTRE
Protesters have heckled French hard-right leader Marine Le Pen as she..
Express.co.uk (14-Mar-2011)

Ten illegal workers found in restaurant raid
The owner of a Paddington restaurant could face a £100,000 fine after..
London Informer (Emma Heseltine) (14-Mar-2011)

UK takeaway jobs ban for immigrants from outside EEA
Migrants from outside the European Economic Area will no longer be...
BBC News UK (14-Mar-2011)

Illegal workers arrested in crackdown at Cumbrian restaurants
Illegal workers were arrested during a string of raids at a number of..
News & Star (By Linzi Watson) (14-Mar-2011)

Rochdale vicar held in sham marriage inquiry
A Church of England vicar has been arrested as part of an...
BBC News England (14-Mar-2011)

Skilled jobs open to migrants to be halved
The number of skilled jobs open to migrant workers will be more than...
Telegraph.co.uk (By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor) (14-Mar-2011)

Non-EU migrants in takeaway job ban
Migrants coming to the UK from outside the EU are to be banned from...
Guardian.co.uk (14-Mar-2011)

Millions unpaid in illegal-staff fines
Only 20 per cent of fines imposed on employers who hire illegal...
News.Scotsman.com (14-Mar-2011)

ILLEGAL WORKERS' FINES UNCOLLECTED
Only 20% of fines imposed on employers who hire illegal workers have...
Daily Star (14-Mar-2011)

Finally, British workers come first: Jobs for migrants slashed by half in visa clampdown
The number of jobs open to migrants from outside the European Union is.
Mail Online (Jack Doyle) (14-Mar-2011)

Illegal workers' fines uncollected
Only 20% of fines imposed on employers who hire illegal workers have...
Guardian.co.uk (14-Mar-2011)

GANG BOSSES DODGE IMMIGRANT FINES
BORDER chiefs were last night attacked for their feeble efforts to...
Daily Star (Ed Riley) (14-Mar-2011)

View list of current reports

Press Releases

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Illegal Worker Fine Scheme ' Lamentable'
14 March, 2011

New figures reveal that the UKBA has only collected 20% of the fines issued to those who employ illegal workers.

An employer caught employing illegal workers can be fined up to £10,000 per worker under the UK Border Agency's Civil Penalty Scheme but in the past three years only an average of £2,000 per worker has in fact been collected.

'This scheme could be a very useful instrument in the fight against illegal immigration, helping reduce the scope for illegal workers who undercut law abiding businesses and legal workers. This is even more important at a time when jobs are so scarce,' said Sir Andrew Green, chairman of think tank Migration Watch UK.

However the UKBA has only collected £10 million of the total £50 million fines issued to date - just 20%.

'It seems that the UKBA is taking the employers' word that they cannot afford to pay or are too ready to agree a reduced figure in the hope of getting at least some of the fine.

'This is another example of successive governments' feeble approach to illegal immigration. To collect just 20% of the available fines is frankly lamentable,' said Sir Andrew.

'There must be much more determined collection of fines to send a clear message that those employing illegal workers will suffer financially. Otherwise, the job opportunities for British workers will continue to be thoroughly undermined by people from across the world who have no right to be here at all'.

Notes to editors:

1. The Civil penalty scheme was introduced in February 2008. An employer can be fines a maximum of £10,000 per illegal worker.

2. The fines issued and collected are detail below and taken from Hansard.

Quarter	Amount Levied	Amount Collected
2008
April to June	3.44 million	15,000
July to September	4.70 million	322,000
October to December	3.14 million	508,000
2009
January to March	5.43 million	465,000
April to June	4.46 million	649,000
July to September	8.60 million	907,000
October to December	4.37 million	1.22 million
2010
January to March	5.80 million	1.46 million
April to June	5.47 million	1.61 million
July to September	4.47 million	1.70 million
October to December	3.20 million	1.80 million

3. It is estimated just around 6,000 firms have been issued with fines for employing one or more illegal workers.

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Migration Watch UK Comment on Today's Immigration Statistics
23 February, 2011

Sir Andrew Green said "These figures are Labour's legacy to Britain - 3.2 million immigrants, including a quarter of a million in their last year alone. Over half a million students in one year with no interviews before arrival and no checks on departure and a Points Based System that has increased immigration, not reduced it. This is what Labour called "managed migration". It would be hard to imagine, after thirteen years in charge, a more shambolic inheritance."

For statistical details see ONS Migration Statistics Quarterly Report No 8 February, 2011

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Immigration Under Labour – Chaos or Conspiracy?
22 February, 2011

Figures due out on Thursday will, for the first time, officially confirm that net foreign immigration under Labour exceeded three million. This is the context for a detailed indictment of the Labour Government’s record on immigration published today in Briefing Paper No 11.24. It forensically examines one of the most significant and far reaching changes ever imposed on the fabric of Britain - despite the wishes of the vast majority of its citizens.

The document, ‘Immigration – Labour’s enduring legacy to Britain’ - from think-tank Migration Watch, has brought together the principal facts and figures resulting from the largest wave of immigration for nearly a thousand years.

To see the full article go to the Press Releases page for February.

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Briefing Papers

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EU Asylum and Immigration Policy
7 March, 2011

Developments in 2010 are reviewed in a paper published today. The coalition government has continued to opt out of almost all Directives on immigration but the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009 has made matters more difficult by extending Qualified Majority Voting to this area and by giving the European Court of Justice full jurisdiction without cases first having to go first to the highest national courts. The details are to be found in Briefing Paper 4.14.