Sixty food delivery riders are facing deportation after being found to be working illegally in the UK, the government has confirmed.
The Home Office stated that the riders were part of a wider group of 171 arrested over seven days in November during a national enforcement operation across villages, towns, and cities. The crackdown forms part of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s focus on unlawful work within the gig economy.
Border Security Minister Alex Norris met with representatives from major food delivery firms to encourage stricter monitoring, including the use of facial recognition to prevent account sharing by individuals without permission to work in the UK. Norris said the operation should “send a clear message: if you are working illegally in this country, you will be arrested and removed.” He added that laws are being tightened “to clamp down on illegal working in the delivery sector to root out this criminality from our communities.”
The Home Office highlighted specific cases, including two Chinese nationals arrested at a restaurant in Solihull, four riders of Bangladeshi and Indian nationality in Newham, east London, and three riders of Indian nationality in Norwich. Seven of those arrested were “detained for removal.”
The issue has been linked to asylum seekers, who are generally not permitted to undertake paid work during their first 12 months in the UK or until their asylum application is approved. Earlier this year, reports indicated that Channel migrants had been renting accounts from legitimate delivery workers via social media, a practice the government called “illicit account sharing” that facilitated illegal work.
To combat the problem, the Home Office has been sharing locations of asylum hotels with delivery companies so that hotspots for illegal working can be monitored. Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats have increased randomised facial checks to ensure riders match their registered account identities.
Illegal working enforcement is part of a broader government trend. Last year, the Home Office recorded 8,000 arrests for illegal working, representing a 63% increase on the previous 12 months. The forthcoming Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill aims to expand right-to-work checks into the gig economy, including delivery riders.
Though asylum seekers cannot undertake paid work in their first year, they are permitted to volunteer. In September, Mahmood proposed making volunteering compulsory for asylum seekers to be eligible for permanent settlement, a measure opposed by over 300 charities who described it as “exploitation.”
The latest crackdown reflects the government’s increasing focus on enforcement within the gig economy, aiming to reduce illegal work while encouraging compliance from both companies and individuals.
