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3 illegal immigrants arrested at rail station

7:30pm Thursday 2nd September 2010 in


THREE illegal immigrants have been arrested after being discovered working at Colchester’s North Station.

UK Border Agency Officers caught the trio as part of a planned nationwide action to tackle illegal working, sham marriages, bogus colleges and organised immigration crime.

They visited North Station and arrested three people as they arrived for overnight shifts cleaning trains.

The officers were acting on information they had received.

A 34-year-old man and 28-year-old woman from Namibia, and a 36-year-old Kenyan had all overstayed their visas.

Two of the immigrants, the man and woman from Namibia, were removed from the country last Wednesday, five days after being discovered, but the Kenyan man is still in Border Agency detention, with work continuing to deport him.

All three were agency workers not directly employed by National Express East Anglia, which operates the station.

National Express East Anglia did not want to comment on the arrests.

Cheryl Daldry, of the Border Agency’s local immigration team for Suffolk and North-East Essex, said their visits were always based on intelligence.

She added: “We appeal to the public to let us know if they have information about suspected immigration offenders.”

The Border Agency is under orders from the Government orders to crack down on illegal immigrants over the summer.

Comments(32)

Anna Key says...
8:38pm Thu 2 Sep 10

Wot no voter99?! I'm sure the inevitable racism will follow. But it would certainly be better to have a reasoned debate about this, about the dreadful levels of exploitation that illegal migrant workers face. For instance recent research showed that the big supermarkets happily accept that so much of their fruit and veg is farmed by very, very cheap, illegal foreign migrants. And if that went they will definitely pass their extra costs onto us Joe Public, they wont allow their profit margin to suffer. Anyway, I'll probably now click on submit and find he's beaten me to it!

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Boris says...
9:35pm Thu 2 Sep 10

Give him a chance, Anna, he's probably down at the pub. And he is not the only one who hates migrants.
More to the point, the fact is that most of the unpleasant jobs or those with antisocial hours have to be done by illegal migrants because the employers won't pay the minimum wage, let alone a fair rate for the job.
I am sorry for the individuals who got caught but I invite the Gazette to name the cleaning company which employed them, and to give us a report on how they recruit, how much they pay, what they are like to work for, etc.

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hughie-s says...
8:00am Fri 3 Sep 10

Boris:P Job Centre is advertising "cleaning job within the transport industry" where a "Candidates with PTS (Track Safety) Certification will be preferred" @ £7 ph

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Shadow Demon says...
8:47am Fri 3 Sep 10

Oh yes how sad that people that come to this country illegally can only find work on low wages and cash in hand, these people know exactly what they are doing and if they wanted to work for better pay then they would go through the correct channels like thousand of other legitimate migrants do each year, those that seek to circumnavigate the system deserve no sympathy at all and should be returned to their country or origin. I agree with Boris that it would be interesting to know the name and recruitment practices of the comany involved although that would involve a little investigative journalism which is lost on the Gazette.

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RitchieHicks says...
10:16am Fri 3 Sep 10

Illegal immigrants avoid paying tax and put a massive strain on our health care system whilst they're at it. I've no time for them. Apply to live here, work and pay tax. If you're not prepared to contribute to society, go away.
.
That said, there wouldn't be so many available jobs to these people if British born life-log dolers would throw away their laziness and go and work for a living.
.
No sympathy here for either group.

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itsgary says...
1:55pm Fri 3 Sep 10

Anna Key/Boris two left wingers arm in arm before its even been mentioned "Key" screams "Racism" this is the left wing fight back to stem opinion, the fact is they are here illegaly and therefore loose there rights, never mind what colour they are, does Key or Boris refuse to buy the cheap items at the supermarket I doubt it, I thought this left wing opinion in which everyone whom doesnt share the same opinion are tagged by some tag or other, was left behind in the dark days of New Labour.
I am not sorry for the individuals whom were caught nor do I sit up all night worrying about it. As far as Border control are concerned well done!! dont let those left wingers put you off they are in the minority perhaps not in this papers point of veiws but they are.

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snoswad says...
3:58pm Fri 3 Sep 10

what terrible environments these individuals come from.they live in a twilight world always looking over their shoulders,in fear of being sent back to the hell holes that they thought they had escaped from.
have a little compassion if they are here and working let them stay.
the crack down should be on the people who exploit these individuals.
these people must know they are looking at a wrong un when they interview.run the employment properly and this sort of thing couldn't happen.
we allow such people as "gang masters"a throw back to the 19th century.the scum of the earth.

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Anna Key says...
4:50pm Fri 3 Sep 10

You are right Boris, as clearly demonstrated V99 is not the only one who hates migrants. In fact, ShadowDemon seems to hate more people than anybody on this website. We do of course have all his usual, ridiculous levels of ignorance, the absurd claim that 'these people know exactly what they are doing'. It has of course been very well established that they do not, that unscrupulous criminals promise them the earth, including that it will all be done legally and above board. They then find themselves falling victim to what is the modern day slave trade. Human trafficing is now the second biggest criminal industry in the world. And as for Gary suggesting that 'this sort of left-wing opinion' had departed, he really is sadly deluded. New Labour was of course an entirely Thatcherite project, and as Snoswad has demonstrated they do express compassion in this area. Even the Tory party is not completely trapped in the 1980s, and some of the bigotry expressed here wouldn't be acceptable to them any more. They like Snoswad will talk about cracking down on the criminals who operate this trade, but just like New Labour they wont actually do anything about it because they wont want to upset their friends in big business. And it is to them we should be expressing our anger, not the innocent victims.

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Anna Key says...
5:09pm Fri 3 Sep 10

Oh, and as for Gary's ridiculous suggestion that I should boycott the supermarkets, he really needs to explain why. That sort of thing might ease a middle-class conscience, but as a low paid manual worker I have neither the time or the money to make such pointless, empty gestures. Even if such middle-class consumer politics worked (which it doesn't), would leaving these people with no work at all actually do them any favours? So it is clearly much better to use my time highlighting these issues in the media, which is exactly what I'm doing here.

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e8joe says...
5:47pm Fri 3 Sep 10

I feel sorry for the other victims of mass immigration legal or illegal, the british, who now have no hope of work once redunancy hits them and to compound their misfortune they are then called "the lazy doleys" by people on here. Unemployment is forecast to rocket over the next few years yet the population keeps rising, when are people going to realise we cannot help the whole planet especially when the asian countries populations triple every 50years!. Suppose that makes me "racist".

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Anna Key says...
6:34pm Fri 3 Sep 10

e8joe - In my view, no, certainly not. I hoped for an intelligent, rational debate, and yours is one of the few contributions to do this. Don't actually agree with everything you said, but the extent to which the bosses use migration (internal and external, legal and illegal) to drive down wages and worsen working conditions, and any knock-on effect on unemployment statistics, is something to be considered in any rational debate on this subject. For instance bosses get round the minimum wage with even legal migration, with the foreign worker only allowed the job on the condition that they live in a place owned by the boss, for which an extortionate rent is charged. I merely urge us to remember that migrants are not to blame, the politicians and the bosses are, and is to them we should address our anger.

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Shadow Demon says...
8:20am Sat 4 Sep 10

Anna Key wrote:
You are right Boris, as clearly demonstrated V99 is not the only one who hates migrants. In fact, ShadowDemon seems to hate more people than anybody on this website. We do of course have all his usual, ridiculous levels of ignorance, the absurd claim that 'these people know exactly what they are doing'. It has of course been very well established that they do not, that unscrupulous criminals promise them the earth, including that it will all be done legally and above board. They then find themselves falling victim to what is the modern day slave trade. Human trafficing is now the second biggest criminal industry in the world. And as for Gary suggesting that 'this sort of left-wing opinion' had departed, he really is sadly deluded. New Labour was of course an entirely Thatcherite project, and as Snoswad has demonstrated they do express compassion in this area. Even the Tory party is not completely trapped in the 1980s, and some of the bigotry expressed here wouldn't be acceptable to them any more. They like Snoswad will talk about cracking down on the criminals who operate this trade, but just like New Labour they wont actually do anything about it because they wont want to upset their friends in big business. And it is to them we should be expressing our anger, not the innocent victims.
Oh yes I'm sure that my dislike of thieves, drug addicts & scroungers puts me well in the minority. I suppose that you are going to tell us that these people think that the correct way to enter a country is to sneak aboard a lorry in Calais, of course they don't but it's easier than going down the correct channels and be use we are such a soft touch and take so long to send these people home the cycle just continues. As for your response to the suggestion that you and your lefty buddies boycott the supermarkets as a protest against their suppliers using cheap labour that's exactly what I'd expect from you easier for you to sit at you pc preaching your nonsense but heaven forbid you actually have to take any action yourself.

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Anna Key says...
9:04am Sat 4 Sep 10

SD - It's a pity that the perpetrators of organised immigration crime don't make it onto that little list, instead you prefer to deny its existence. And your hatred of even the most moderate trade unions, bus drivers and students does place you in a lunatic fringe. I must certainly do take action way beyond a forum such as this, and I'm sure that when I do you'll be one of those moaning about it. I'm really quite surprised you have chosen to wade into the debate about the relevance of middle class consumer politics, because most of it will be lost on you. But it has clearly been the aim of capitalist propaganda since the 50s onwards to have us all see ourselves as isolated, atomised, individual units of consumption. Thatcher's most famous maxim: 'There's no such thing as society, only the individual.' Modern, middle class, consumer politics not only reflects these capitalist desires, it emboldens them.

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Jimmy says...
11:23am Sun 5 Sep 10

A company that chooses to pay wages that are not attractive to the legitimate labour force needs to be very careful to check the identity of those people that it does employ. I hope the cleaning company is dealt with for illegally employing these people.

If the cleaning company finds it difficult to attract legitimate labour then it should pay its staff higher wages. If it cannot afford to do so then it should either renegotiate its contract with National Express or walk away.

I have found that since National Express took over the local franchise from First group in 2004, the standard of cleanliness of the trains has deteriorated. It is clear that either the cleaning budget is inadequate or somebody somewhere is making a lot of money out of the cleaning contract.

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Shadow Demon says...
12:16pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Anna Key wrote:
SD - It's a pity that the perpetrators of organised immigration crime don't make it onto that little list, instead you prefer to deny its existence. And your hatred of even the most moderate trade unions, bus drivers and students does place you in a lunatic fringe. I must certainly do take action way beyond a forum such as this, and I'm sure that when I do you'll be one of those moaning about it. I'm really quite surprised you have chosen to wade into the debate about the relevance of middle class consumer politics, because most of it will be lost on you. But it has clearly been the aim of capitalist propaganda since the 50s onwards to have us all see ourselves as isolated, atomised, individual units of consumption. Thatcher's most famous maxim: 'There's no such thing as society, only the individual.' Modern, middle class, consumer politics not only reflects these capitalist desires, it emboldens them.
More assumptions and nonsense from our resident leftie (where you got that i despise students and bus drivers is beyond me but then again you are delusional). do you not ever tire of the endles spiral of pontification and self pity. The fact you won't even change the way you shop to avoid these companies who exploit cheap labour suggests that you activity you speak of would merely be you turning up so you can say you were there rather than any action on your part.

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Anna Key says...
2:11pm Wed 8 Sep 10

SD - I have already dealt with middle-class consumer politics, so I have nothing to add other than to ask: Do you boycott the supermarkets? It is hypocritical to criticise another for something you don't do yourself. Though it seems hypocrisy is the least of your problems!
Anyway, you clearly how a very poor memory of even your most bigoted ramblings! You have most certainly described Colchester's bus drivers as 'sitting on their backsides all day being rude to passengers.' When the campus swan killing happened in the middle of the long school summer holiday with the campus virtually empty of students, you said the crime was 'probably' the responsibility of a student. Were you drunk when you made these comments, and is that why you can't remember them now? Are you drunk now? Bit early in the day, you must have a bit of a problem!

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wardyt says...
2:12pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Simple fact: They are illegal immigrants, they are breaking the law. No excuses. Deport them.

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Anna Key says...
2:19pm Wed 8 Sep 10

SD - I really shouldn't let you off your best one! Which was of course the suggestion that Essex Police store vital evidence on some coppers' personal mobile phone. That really was the most stupid comment I've ever seen on this website, and I've seen a few, that's for sure! The most hilarious thing about it was that in your brainless and thoughtless desire to defend the police, you were actually accusing them of the most outrageous and appalling incompetence!

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the undertaker says...
2:37pm Wed 8 Sep 10

wardyt wrote:
Simple fact: They are illegal immigrants, they are breaking the law. No excuses. Deport them.
Deport all the do gooders aswell. Making excuses for them. Its never their fault always someone elses.

Its about time we shut up shop and looked after are own. We have OAPs that are on the breadline yet we can house and feed all the immigrants.

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Anna Key says...
2:55pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Undertaker - You cannot 'deport' anybody who actually comes from Britain. That is a contradiction in terms. Are you sure that your obsession with death hasn't spread to your brain as well?

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wardyt says...
3:58pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Simple fact: They were here illegally, working illegally, breaking the law. Deport them !

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the undertaker says...
4:23pm Wed 8 Sep 10

I say deport the do gooders as it is that sort of person that has made the country the way it is and we'd be better off without them.

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Shadow Demon says...
4:30pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Anna Key wrote:
SD - I have already dealt with middle-class consumer politics, so I have nothing to add other than to ask: Do you boycott the supermarkets? It is hypocritical to criticise another for something you don't do yourself. Though it seems hypocrisy is the least of your problems!
Anyway, you clearly how a very poor memory of even your most bigoted ramblings! You have most certainly described Colchester's bus drivers as 'sitting on their backsides all day being rude to passengers.' When the campus swan killing happened in the middle of the long school summer holiday with the campus virtually empty of students, you said the crime was 'probably' the responsibility of a student. Were you drunk when you made these comments, and is that why you can't remember them now? Are you drunk now? Bit early in the day, you must have a bit of a problem!
Dear me you do get upset don't you? let me explain the comments section on this site allows people to put across their views which is what i do, It isn't your personal soapbox and if you don't like people not agreeing with you perhaps you should find another site to post your drivel on unlike you i have no agenda to slate the police. When the swan killings happened and you and many others were saying it must have been outsiders I suggested it could have just as easily been a student as in you own words the campus was "virtually" not totally empty. when you accused the police of filming the incident as happy slapping i suggested that due to the nature of the violent addict they were attempting to arrest the video could have been used as evidence.
.
I do shop in supermarkets but unlike you i dont whine and moan about how they exploit low paid workers where as you are happy to bang on about how badly paid and treated they are but are more than happy to buy the products it just seemed like a backward argument to me.
.
I see you have decided to suggest that i am drunk rather than not intelligent enough to understand your points i congratulate you on this new retort i hope that it made you feel a bit better about yourself and allowed you to forget the chip on your shoulder for a short while. I look forward to your next childish outburst.

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Anna Key says...
4:34pm Wed 8 Sep 10

The Undertaker does not wish to live in the same country with anybody who disagrees with him. While the word may be used without little regard to its meaning, on this occasion describing the Undertaker as a fascist is clearly correct. And the suggestion made to Nick Griffin that he goes and lives at the North Pole because its the only place he'll find all white, is clearly as applicable to the Undertaker.

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Anna Key says...
4:54pm Wed 8 Sep 10

SD - Somebody so utterly consumed by hatred is making accusations about others getting upset! Still, as said, hypocrisy is only one of many of your problems. And by the way the website's search engine allows one to go back and peruse the swan killing story, and then observe how your above comments would have pleased Stalin by your ability to re-write history! Still, at least you're no longer denying your hatred of bus drivers!

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Boris says...
7:23pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Who is the Undertaker? He (must be a he) certainly wants to deport me too, as I am another of thoise dogooders and I generally agree with whatever Anna writes.
Well Mr Undertaker, I am white British, my dad was born in Clacton, my mum was born in Wivenhoe, and I was born in Layer-de-la-Haye, so I'm about as local and established as you can get. What about you, can you make a similar claim?
You will need a change in legislation if you want to deprive me of my citizenship, and I'd be surprised if Cameron is planning that.
If you are not happy with other people, you should undertake to improve your understanding of the world we live in.

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Anna Key says...
7:45pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Boris - Would require a change in international law as well, so I think we can sleep easily in our beds tonight! Must admit that while I'm very much a white British citizen, I can't claim such exemplary local credentials as yourself - although I was actually born in Lexden Rd, both my parents were Londoners - though presumably there are those who would suggest I should return there.

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Anna Key says...
7:50pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Anyway Boris, I suspect that the likes of SD and the undertaker are easy to spot. So utterly overcome with hatred, they'll be the ones frothing and foaming at the mouth!

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Boris says...
1:28am Thu 9 Sep 10

Anna, you and I were both born in what is now Colchester borough, so we are equally local, and I think we can safely assume that the Undertaker is rather less so. But I wish he and his ilk were as easy to spot as you suggest.

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Sdapeze says...
2:48pm Thu 9 Sep 10

I am with the sentiments of wardy and the undertaker but f course we cannot deport our do-gooders. We must suffer them and their moral high ground. Illegal immigrants have no place in our country. There should be zero tolerance. We have already let too many in and given them citizenship and are now reaping the consequences where we are prevented by law from having certain opinions that my father and those of his generation fought a war to protect. Churchill dealt with the appeasers. Where are there leaders of similar qualities in this country now?

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Anna Key says...
7:57pm Thu 9 Sep 10

Sdapeze - I'm almost touched by your comments! Still, this reference to WW2 really is very baffling. And while I would certainly never accuse you of it, this thread has seen intolerance so extreme it can rightly be described as fascist (your merely an old-fashioned Thatcherite, plenty of reactionary bigotry, but most certainly not fascist). And WW2 was above all else a fight against fascism.

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Anna Key says...
8:55pm Thu 9 Sep 10

And talk of Churchill does certainly throw up one of British history's fascinating characters. A little less known about him was that he was the first person ever to order a poison gas attack against a civilian population. And by a modern day irony he did this putting down a Kurdish rebellion in British controlled Iraq. Saddem Hussein was executed for this, Churchill's voted greatest ever Briton. Still, he stood alone among the appeasing Tories as he warned of the dangers of fascism, and for this he deserves recognition. Just two MPs opposed 'peace in our time', Churchill and a Communist. The 1930s fight against fascism was of course led by working-class socialists, and it was of course these working-class socialists that Britain rulers most feared (Churchill excepted), not fascism. I could then not also fail to recognise the leadership he demonstrated in WW2. Clearly extraordinarily charismatic, he, unlike Hitler, could even paint a bit! (Find some of his paintings on-line.) So, I must admit, much to the consternation of many
leftie friends, I rather like the mass-murdering racist old colonialist!

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