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<p>[holding answer 24 March 2014]</p><p>HM Government has not made any estimate of
the number of illegal migrants currently employed in the UK. Given the clandestine
nature of illegal migrants, any estimation is, by definition, extremely difficult
and prone to considerable uncertainty.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government takes
illegal immigration very seriously and is focusing on measures to ensure that illegal
migrants cannot live, work or abuse benefits and services in the UK. The Immigration
Bill will prevent illegal migrants from accessing and abusing public services. It
will also strengthen our existing arrangements to prevent illegal working, by making
it easier to enforce penalties on employers found to be employing illegal workers;
reform the removals and appeals system, making it simpler to remove those with no
right to be in the UK; and end the abuse of Article 8 of the ECHR - the right to respect
for private and family life. Parallel changes to secondary legislation will also double
the maximum penalty for employing an illegal worker and strengthen the scheme as a
whole, including by simplifying the checks employers must perform.</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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