Curry house immigration raids ‘unfair’, say restaurant owners

Home Office defends measures which have resulted in arrests and fines across the country

Owners of Britain’s curry houses say they are being unfairly targeted by the Home Office, which has launched a series of immigration raids on restaurants across the country. About 100,000 people are employed in the sector, which had already been facing problems because of a shortage of skilled chefs and a reluctance on the part of a younger generation to join family firms.

Now the industry’s largest trade body has written to immigration minister Brandon Lewis to discuss the impact of tough new immigration laws and what restaurant owners say is an increase in immigration raids.

Related: Rising costs put third of Britain’s curry houses at risk of closure