CHANNEL migrants are working as fast-food delivery riders within hours of arriving in the UK while being housed and fed at taxpayer expense.
They rake in nearly £1,000 a week operating from asylum accommodation, used as hubs for black-market work on apps like Deliveroo and JustEat.
A migrant hotel guest at a hotel in Peckham exited the building and cycled away to begin his shift with a bag strapped to his back[/caption]
We witnessed one man leave the Chine Hotel, in Bournemouth, with a Just Eat bag[/caption]
Migrants in hotels are banned from working in any circumstances if they have been in Britain for less than 12 months.
Even those here longer are not allowed to legally work as delivery drivers.
But at two packed hotels in London and one in Bournemouth — each one housing hundreds of asylum seekers — we snapped migrants in branded jackets for Deliveroo, JustEat and Uber Eats.
Some rode £1,000 e-bikes while others used public-hire bicycles.
Last night Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This crucial Sun investigation reveals yet another appalling abuse of our immigration system.
“These delivery companies know exactly what they’re doing. It’s a disgrace and they need to be made to feel consequences.”
We found Deliveroo and Just Eat accounts for rent on dozens of online forums — for as little as £40 a week.
Migrants exploit a loophole allowing legitimate account holders to sub-let work, even though signing up for an account is free.
One group has 20,000 members and sees dozens of posts a day advertising illicit accounts which require no documents.
An undercover Sun reporter posing as a small-boat arrival from Afghanistan was offered an account ten minutes after signing up.
When asked if having no documents was a problem, one “Deliveroo dealer” told him: “You will not be caught, Inshallah (Allah willing).”
Many illegal workers use the cash on top of their living allowance to pay off people smugglers. Others send cash home for relatives to save up to join them.
We know an example where Just Eat has paid 50 workers in a single bank account
James Farrar, director of Worker Info Exchange
And government sources say the speed at which migrants are processed on quiet days means they can now start earning on delivery apps within hours of arriving in Dover.
James Farrar, director of Worker Info Exchange, said: “We know an example where Just Eat has paid 50 workers in a single bank account.”
Legal worker Marcio Silver, 52, said: “They are taking a lot of jobs, stealing food off our family’s table.”
The Sun understands the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Angela Eagle, is meeting deliver companies next week, to help tackle illegal working in this sector.
At the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, a black screen had been erected to hide the illegal workers from public view[/caption]
A migrant staying in an asylum hotel was seen in Manchester with a JustEat bag[/caption]
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick branded delivery companies a ‘disgrace’[/caption]
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “The Sun investigation is right to highlight this illegal working racket, which undermines honest business and undercuts local wages.
“The Government is taking action by increasing illegal working raids by 40 per cent since the election and introducing new tough laws to ensure every employer has to conduct full worker eligibility checks.”
Our investigators found more than a dozen groups on social media dedicated to flogging delivery accounts to “sub-contractors”.
In almost all cases these turn out to be illegal migrants with no right to work in the UK
Posing as a small boat arrival from Afghanistan, a Sun reporter using open Facebook groups was quickly flooded with offers from all over the country.
One so-called “Deliveroo dealer” wanted £80-a-week or £200-a-month to rent an account in West London.
After we raised fears of being deported if discovered, the dealer insisted: “You won’t be caught in any way bro.”
We then asked if he had rented accounts to small boat migrants before. He replied: “Yeah sure bro, many times.
“You don’t need to verify any identity — you’re just renting account, not creating account.
“I will give you the login info, then you will make half payment of the weekly rent and you will login and start working.
“After you work for one week you will make the balance payment.”
Asked how he would get round Deliveroo rules which require delivery workers to photograph themselves once a day, he added: “Once it asks for selfie you will call or text me, then I will login and verify.”
FROM BOAT TO BIKE IN HOURS
1. MIGRANTS climb on to dinghies in the waters off French beaches and begin the journey across the Channel. Once in UK waters, they are taken in by Border Force.
2. AT Dover, they arrive at a facility called Western Jet Foil where they are searched, given a set of dry clothes, shoes, food and water, and receive first aid if they were injured on the journey. They are then processed at a former military base at Manston.
3. CHECKS are done there in as little as three hours. Once complete, they are taken by coach to one of around 210 asylum hotels across the country. Migrants have no say in which hotel they are placed in.
4. ASYLUM seekers join one of dozens of social media groups offering accounts for rent. They pay as little as £40 a week to get login details for an account on Deliveroo or Just Eat.
5. MIGRANTS work 15-hour shifts using their hotels as a base for their bikes, bags and uniforms. They can rake in hundreds of pounds a week as handlers guarantee they will not be caught.
Channel migrants are working as fast-food delivery riders within hours of arriving in the UK[/caption]
We found another seller offering Just Eat accounts who said a migrant could make as much as £250-a-week just by working for a few hours a day.
Online payment services could be used to get round not having a UK bank account.
He stressed: “You won’t be caught, Inshallah (Allah willing).
“I will get everything prepared for you in an organised way.”
Many of the 210 asylum hotels across Britain have become hubs for the scandal, which sees Channel migrants able to find illegal work within hours of coming ashore.
Deliveroo and Just Eat riders can be seen entering and leaving the property at all hours.
At the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, a black screen had been erected to hide the illegal workers from public view.
‘Horrible and aggressive’
At least 100 bicycles and top-of-the-range electric bikes have been stored outside, with migrants brazenly riding off in Deliveroo, JustEat and Uber Eats branded jackets with matching food bags.
Signs have been put up in the makeshift storage yard in English, Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Kurdish, Spanish and the African language of Tigrinya.
One tracksuited asylum seeker in his 20s travelled two miles to King’s Cross. He delivered an order from fried chicken shop Coqfighter to an unsuspecting customer.
At the Best Western hotel in Peckham, South London, the entire courtyard was filled with bikes and bags — surrounding a replica of the Only Fools and Horses three-wheeler.
As we watched, one migrant hotel guest exited the building and cycled away to begin his shift with a bag strapped to his back.
In Bournemouth, three hotels are contracted to put up migrants. We witnessed one man leave the Chine Hotel, in Boscombe, with a Just Eat bag.
200K DELIVER GRUB TO BRITS
THE food delivery industry is worth £15billion in the UK and uses more than 200,000 self-employed riders.
Experts say the restaurant-to-door market is growing 12 per cent a year, with firms like Deliveroo and Just Eat ballooning from start-ups to giant firms in a decade.
UK firm Deliveroo, which has 50,000 riders, processed £7.4billion of orders in 2024, turning a profit for the first time. US rival DoorDash is to buy the app for £2.9billion.
US investment firm Prosus bought Danish-founded Just Eat for £3.4billion this year.
It previously offered some riders sick pay but returned to a gig model in 2023 amid mounting losses.
Both firms have vowed to back employment checks covering firms hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers.
The Sun also watched as four men were seen cycling from The Britannia hotel in East Cliff with delivery goxes.
Campaigners told The Sun that illegal work was making it almost impossible for legal delivery riders to cope.
One, 52-year-old Marcio Silver, said: “Sometimes one guy will work in the morning, and then another will take over and do it at night.
“Some are horrible and aggressive. They fight with customers and eat their food. It’s bad for business. This is the Wild West, and there are no rules.”
Consumer rights expert James Farrar, director of Worker Info Exchange, said: “It’s not surprising people actually having to pay for their own accommodation can’t make ends meet.”
Sources told The Sun that on quieter days, small boat arrivals can be processed in as little as three hours and sent to a taxpayer-funded hotel.
The Sun investigation is right to highlight this illegal working racket, which undermines honest business and undercuts local wages.
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson
One added: “Those coming here know that as soon as they reach UK waters, they are guaranteed a spot in a hotel which they don’t have to pay for.”
Lsst night Just Eat said: “We are continuously strengthening our approach to ensure anyone who delivers through Just Eat’s platform has the right-to-work in the UK.
“Last year, we introduced a new mechanism requiring couriers to inform us that they are using substitutes and for these substitutes to complete right-to-work checks.
“We have now rolled out the next phase. Couriers are randomly prompted to complete a facial recognition test, which must match documentation held on our system.”
Deliveroo said: “We have a dedicated team in place who ensure Deliveroo does not work with riders who don’t have the right to work in the UK.
“We are consistently strengthening our controls against misuse of our platform, with further measures in development.
“All riders, including substitutes, must complete right-to-work checks which we are robust in monitoring with daily identity verification and, most recently, additional checks when a rider logs in using a new device.”
Uber Eats has more stringent checks than its rivals and far fewer sellers. A spokesman said: “All couriers who use the Uber Eats app must undergo checks to ensure they have a legal right to work in the UK.
“Uber Eats has launched new detection tools to crack down on anyone attempting to work illegally on our platform.
“As a result, we are removing fraudulent accounts and we are constantly reviewing and improving our processes.”
