An undercover investigation by The Telegraph has revealed that asylum seekers housed in Home Office hotels are illegally working as bike couriers for fast food and grocery delivery platforms — including Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats — in order to repay debts to people smugglers.

Many of these migrants are banned from working due to their immigration status but are earning up to £500 a week through account-renting schemes and identity fraud. Much of the money is sent abroad to repay criminal gangs for loans taken out to fund dangerous Channel crossings in small boats.

The Telegraph’s investigation tells us two things about Britain, neither of which is good; first, that our borders have never been more porous and second, that we have a grey labour market that is a huge draw for illegal migrants.

The gig economy is quietly absorbing thousands of undocumented workers and has become a de facto employment system, largely because it is so easy to access: all you need is a mobile phone and a bike to start earning. A loophole in regulations for food delivery services like Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats enables migrants to work illegally by renting accounts from legitimate workers. By paying a weekly fee of £70 to £100, they bypass mandatory background checks and right-to-work verifications, allowing them to work without detection.

It is unclear how many illegal migrants are currently working in the gig economy. A little over 450,000 are estimated to work in the sector in total, with less than 85,000 people in food delivery. However, the numbers are likely in the tens of thousands; research conducted in six cities across four continents suggests that “platform labour is predominantly migrant labour”, while in reply to a freedom of information request filed by Reuters last year, the Home Office revealed that 42% of riders stopped by an enforcement team during a six-day period in April 2023 were discovered to be working illegally.

The system has scanty checks, asks few questions and dodges accountability — all willingly enabled by businesses that don’t want to know and a Home Office that daren’t ask. Platforms avoid responsibility by claiming they do not “employ” workers, while the Government turns a blind eye to the problem. The gig economy, once seen as a flexible and accessible job market, is now one of the strongest pull factors for illegal migration to the UK. Migrants know that with minimal oversight they can enter the country, be housed by the State and work illegally in order to pay back people smugglers.

Everybody benefits from this arrangement, except for the British public. Brits must foot the bill for a system that is so riddled with holes that tens of thousands of people are taking advantage of it every year. As one Dunkirk trafficker said: “The Government pays you, feeds you and they’ll even give you a good home. You’ll find work very easily. There are easy jobs you can do while staying in hotels they put you in”. Like all the best sales pitches, it works so well because it’s the truth.

---