Fines in the UK are to be "more than tripled" for both employers and landlords who allow migrants without papers to rent from them, or offer them employment at their places of work.

This, said the Home Secretary in a press release on Monday (August 7), amounts to "the biggest shake up of civil penalties since 2014."

With the introduction of the law, if an employer is found to be employing an illegal worker they will be fined up to £45,000 (about €52,000) per worker for a first breach and then up to £60,000 (about €69,000) for repeat breaches.

Previously, fines stood at £15,000 (about €17,000) for a first breach and at £20,000 (about €23,000) for a repeat breach per worker.

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Landlords meanwhile could be fined up to £5,000 per lodger (about €5,800) and up to £10,000 (about € 11,600) per occupier of a property.

Previously, related fines stood at about £80 (about €92) per lodger and £1,000 (about € 1,160) per occupier for a first breach. Anyone repeating these breaches could be fined up to £10,000 (about € 11,600) per lodger and up to £20,000 (about €23,000) per occupier -- up from £500 (about € 580) and £3,000 (about 3,484), respectively.

Hoping for a deterrence effect

The government is also intending to begin consultation around strengthening its actions against licensed businesses employing workers without the correct papers, stated the Home Office.

Since the beginning of 2018, the government says it has issued almost 5,000 civil penalties to employers, amounting to a total of £88.4 million.

Landlords have also been issued with over 320 civil penalties, which brought in £215,000 in revenue to the government.

UK Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick said that this was all part of the plan to help deter migrants from crossing the English Channel without papers.

"Making it harder for illegal migrants to work and operate in the UK is vital to deterring dangerous, unecessary small boat crossings. Unscrupulous landlords and employers who allow illegal working and renting enable the business model of the evil people smugglers to continue," Jenrick stated.

The minister added that there would be "no excuse for not conducting the appropriate checks" and that those in breach "will now face significantly tougher penalties."

Jenrick claimed that the possibility to work and live "illegally" in the UK was acting as a "significant pull factor for migrants crossing the Channel."

Safeguarding the 'public purse'

The Home Office said that people smugglers would often use the promise of jobs and housing to "lure people into making these journeys."

By increasing the fines, the Home Office believes they will effectively deter employers and landlords from "engaging in these illegal and dangerous practices."

The British government further said it also wanted to increase the fines for those facilitating those without papers, because allowing them to continue "undercuts honest employers, puts vulnerable people at risk of exploitation, and cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment."

In addition, it "defrauds the public purse as the businesses and workers do not pay taxes."

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Focus on lowering Channel crossings

It is expected that the government will continue to underline further initiatives designed to try and "stop the boats" from crossing the Channel -- one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's top five pledges for this year.

The first migrants are meanwhile also due to board the floating barge accommodation Bibby Stockholm, which is moored in Portland harbor in Dorset, today (August 7).

According to UK government figures, a little over 300 migrants crossed the Channel in the last seven days leading up to August 6. But with more favorable weather forecast for the Channel in the next few days, there could be an uptick in the numbers making the crossing.

Also read: Delays beset government plans for migrant accommodation

Checks 'take only five minutes'

The government told employers and landlords that they have a variety of methods at their disposal to check whether someone is eligible to be employed or have a property let to them.

The first method, the government says, is by manually checking the original documentation and papers, and the second is by applying to the Home Office online for a check.

This, they say, "takes only five minutes."

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Earlier this year, the British government launched a taskforce to tackle the issue of illegal workers, reintroducing the idea of data sharing with the financial sector in order to stop migrants without papers from accessing bank accounts.

The taskforce, known as the "cross-government ministerial Taskforce on Immigration Enforcement," aims to "identify and reduce illegal migrants in the UK, and ensures only those eligible can work, receive benefits or access public services."

As part of this initiative, the number of visits to sites where the government suspects people might be working illegally has been stepped up, reaching "their highest levels since 2019," stated the government in a press release.

That is up 50% on the number of checks last year. As a result of these checks, the government says that since the beginning of 2023, they have already arrested more people than throughout the whole of 2022. They didn't, however, state how many people exactly they had actually arrested in either year.

With AFP