Brazilian asylum seeker ‘earned £6k a month’ on rented delivery accounts

LBC joined an immigration enforcement team as they targeted a ‘dark kitchen’ in Sutton, South London, where fast food chains churn out orders for delivery, with no customer-facing desk.

Officers questioned the queue of bike riders waiting to collect food on the industrial estate to check if they had a right to work in the country, as part of a crackdown on illegal working.

It’s understood the Brazilian man lives in his own home with his wife, who has also claimed asylum, and has been waiting more than two years for a decision to be made on his application.

For at least the past six months, he admitted he had been working illegally, having rented accounts with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats.

All three were registered officially as different female users, raising questions about safeguarding for vulnerable women, answering the door to a man they’re not expecting.

Suran Padiachie, head operational delivery for immigration enforcement in south London, told LBC: “He has an outstanding asylum claim so as part of his conditions he shouldn't be working, which one of our officers established.

“We’ll refer it to the relevant team who will now consider whether to cease any support he may be getting as part of his asylum claim, or his accommodation.”

Due to the fact the man and his wife are still waiting for a decision on their asylum claim, he was bailed and allowed to walk free, with no immediate prospect of him being deported.

His moped was seized by police who had also joined the operation because he didn’t have a valid driving license.

The enforcement action on an industrial estate was part of a week of intense work to target hotspots near asylum hotels where migrants have been suspected of working illegally in the gig economy.

Already this week, at least two dozen arrests have been made across the UK.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper raised growing concerns over the number of asylum seekers exploiting the system, including while living in government-funded hotels.

She told MPs earlier this month: “It has been way too easy to work illegally in this country for far too long. We know in particular that illegal migration is being exploited in the gig economy, where there are not proper checks in place. 

“We will therefore bring in new legislation to crack down on illegal working in the gig economy, alongside a surge of immigration enforcement activity and biometric checks that will enable us to use fingerprints to check who people are on the spot. 

“We must have stronger enforcement and stronger rules in place.”

The Home Office has announced a new partnership with Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats where they will be told the locations of asylum hotels to identify illegal working.

Currently delivery riders discovered to be sharing their accounts with asylum seekers have their profiles suspended.

The latest measures hope to crack down further on the practice.

The gig economy firms have also been increasing real-time identity and right to work checks which has led to thousands of workers being taken off the platforms, the Home Office said.

A Deliveroo spokesperson said:“Deliveroo has led the sector in introducing security measures to prevent the abuse of our platform and tackle the sophisticated criminals seeking new ways to exploit all delivery platforms’ systems.

"We are fully committed to working with the government as we continue to collectively combat illegal working.

A Just Eat spokesperson said: “Just Eat is committed to tackling any illegal working via our platform. We continue to invest significant resources to strengthen our systems against abuse by individuals and organised criminal groups seeking to evade right to work rules.

"We are working closely with the Home Office and our industry partners to address any loopholes in the industry's checks, as well as collaborating on data sharing and enforcement.”

An Uber Eats spokesperson said: “Uber Eats is fully committed to tackling illegal work and will continue to work with the Home Office and industry.

"We have introduced a range of state of the art detection tools to find and remove fraudulent accounts. We are constantly reviewing our tools and finding new ways to detect and take action on people who are trying to work illegally.”