Illegal immigrants
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Home Secretary Jacqui Smith revealed yesterday that the number of illegal immigrants given licences to work in the private security industry is more than double the figure the government admitted last month.
More than 11,000 immigrants were issued licences by the Security Industry Authority, the organisation set up by the government to vet those employed as doormen and security staff, despite having no legal right to work in the UK.
Smith told MPs yesterday that more than 6,600 immigrants had been granted work licences by the SIA, 1,600 than the estimate given to MPs last month. But she also revealed a further 4,400 workers had been issued permits who might not be eligible to work in the UK.
Originally the figure was put at 5,000 but this rose dramatically after the SIA carried out a review of the 40,000 licences issued to non-European foreigners and checked their names against a database held by the Border and Immigration Authority.
She also revealed that only 409 licences had been revoke but added that the SIA had written to 10,000 people warning them that their authorisation could be withdrawn.
The Home Office argues that an SIA licence shows an applicant has undergone training as well as identity and criminal record check, but that the legal responsibility falls on the employers as to whether the individual is able to work in the UK.
There have also been reports that licences were issued without seeing a passport as ID.
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Readers' comments (1)
REX BURTON | Fri, 15 Feb 2008 9:37 pm
I am a security officer with 12 years experience in the
security industry in the UK. I was one of the first people
to be granted an SIA ID on the basis of my past record
and qualifications to carry-on working in security. It
would interest me to know how it is possible for even a
single individual could be authorised to carry the ID
when I state that it was necessary for me to send my UK Passport by post to SIA for screening in order to obtain this worthless document. It took a total of six months before I had recieved my passport in return. It beggars belief that a person who does not carry even the most basic credentials could be given any kind of job in the UK, never mind a job involving total trust and sensitivity. The sia are responsible for this fiasco and not so the individual employers. The selectivity starts with our Immigration Authorities, they must restore much of the trust and responsibility sadly lacking in our society by protecting the citizens of this country from what can be seen as a very real threat to our existance.
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