The UK government carried out a police operation called Crackdown on April 16th and 21st, 2023 with the aim of preventing illegal work in the country. During the action, 60 delivery app drivers were detained in the London region, most of them Brazilians who were working illegally in the country.
The companies most affected by the operation were Deliveroo, JustEat and UberEats, which used these drivers in their operations. The detainees were not allowed to work in England and, in some cases, presented false documents.
Of the 60 drivers arrested, 44 were illegally residing in the country or had an expired visa and, therefore, are awaiting deportation to their country of origin. The release of the other 16 was done after paying a bond, as announced by the government itself.
O Home Office, the body responsible for migration policies in the United Kingdom, pointed out that the vast majority of those detained are Brazilian, followed by Indians and Algerians.
The police began to act after the Ministry of the Interior's intelligence service identified places with a large concentration of couriers in several regions of London. Police agents made the arrests in monitored locations. Of the 132 workers approached, 60 were detained.
Working illegally in United Kingdom It is a crime and can lead to imprisonment, with a maximum sentence of 51 weeks in England and Wales and 6 months in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Employers who allow illegal work can also be jailed for up to five years and pay an unlimited fine.
This operation is part of the zero tolerance policy adopted by the UK government against illegal immigrants remaining in the country. The law “Stop the boats”, from 2023, aims to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country and impose more sanctions on illegal immigrants.
Furthermore, the law states that anyone who enters the UK illegally will be permanently barred from returning or seeking British citizenship in the future.
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