British immigration officers have raided nearly 300 nail salons and arrested almost 100 people for suspected immigration offences as part of a drive to tackle modern slavery, the Home Office said on Wednesday.
Most of those arrested were Vietnamese nationals, but there were also others from Mongolia, Ghana, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and India.
“Operation Magnify”, a week-long operation concluded earlier this month, was a cross-government drive to stamp out illegal working by targeting specific “risk” industries, said the Home Office, Britain’s interior ministry, in a statement.
“This operation sends a strong message to those employers who ruthlessly seek to exploit vulnerable people and wilfully abuse our immigration laws,” Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill, added.
“Modern slavery is a barbaric crime which destroys the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our society.”
More than a dozen vulnerable people working in nail salons were found to have been at risk of modern slavery, said the statement while 68 businesses could face financial penalties of up to 20,000 pounds per illegal worker found.
Those who are potential victims of trafficking will be offered support while those who have no right to be in the UK will be removed, the statement said.
