Vol. 71/No. 42      November 12, 2007

Officials of the Border and Immigration Authority say they are carrying out 60 raids a week on London workplaces.

“More than 100 police went into restaurants and cornered everyone, arresting people with handcuffs,” said Jabez Lam, an organizer of a protest against the raids.

Bobby Chan of Min Quan, a Chinese immigrant rights group, said in an interview that many of those arrested in Chinatown raids are held in prisons far from London and denied legal representation.

Owners of Chinatown restaurants and shops shut down their businesses October 18 to protest the arrests. The action was called by the London Chinatown Community Association. Banners were draped across Gerard Street with the slogans “Support Migrant Workers, Stop Persecuting Employers.”

Parliament is scheduled to discuss proposals to remove limits on fines that can be imposed on bosses who employ undocumented workers. The Office for National Statistics reports that one out of three London residents was born abroad, and that 10,000 immigrants settle in this city every month.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home