MIGRASYL

News on migration and asylum from around the region - Nouvelles de la région sur les questions de migration et d'asile

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

UK Border [UK] The Guardian - Agency texts tell legitimate immigrants to leave UK


[Picture from same article - copyright guardian.co.uk, 7/01/2013- Gareth Fuller/PA archive]

07.01.2013. The home secretary, Theresa May, has promised to look into the cases of people entitled to live in Britain who have been wrongly told to leave the country by a private company acting on behalf of the UK Border Agency (UKBA).

Capita, which won a £40m UKBA contract to trace 174,000 migrants living illegally in the country from September, has been sending text messages and emails to them telling they are required to leave Britain. But immigration lawyers say those who have received Capita's texts in recent weeks include a woman with a valid British passport and a man with a valid visa who had invested £1m in a UK-based business.

The standard text message from the firm reads: "Message from the UK Border Agency: You are required to leave the UK as you no longer have the right to remain." It urges recipients to contact UKBA immediately.

Lawyers say the texts were sent out over the Christmas period and those who were wrongly informed they needed to leave the country were left extremely distressed and upset.

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