Nail bars have been targeted by immigration officers, leading to dozens of arrests as part of an operation last month, the Home Office has announced.
Robert Goodwill, an immigration minister, revealed there has been a week-long operation that saw 97 people held, 68 businesses warned they could face fines and 14 people identified as potentially at risk of modern slavery.
The majority of the people arrested were Vietnamese nationals, but there were also people from Mongolia, Ghana, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and India.
The Home Office said 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.
Goodwill praised the operation for sending a “strong message to those employers who ruthlessly seek to exploit vulnerable people and wilfully abuse our immigration laws.
“Modern slavery is a barbaric crime which destroys the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our society,” he said.
The operation, led by Immigration Enforcement, took place from 27 November to 3 December and saw officers visit more than 280 businesses across the UK.
The crackdown has so far focused on the construction, care, cleaning, catering, taxi and car wash industries during 2016, with further activity in similar sectors planned for 2017.
As home secretary, Theresa May made it a priority to legislate against modern slavery. She has also repeatedly stressed over six years that she wants to bring down illegal immigration as well as reduce numbers of people who enter the country legally.
Some of those policies have been controversial including trials of vans urging migrants not legally in the country to “go home”.
It emerged last month that the Home Office under May had also proposed allowing the children of parents unlawfully in the UK to be dropped to the bottom of lists for school places – a proposal that was not taken forward.
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