Asylum seekers housed in Home Office hotels are believed to be illegally working as bike couriers for food delivery companies to pay off debts to people smugglers.
A month-long investigation has revealed migrants are earning up to £500 a week through services like Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats, The Telegraph reports.
Many of these couriers are banned from working due to their immigration status. However, it is understood that they wire money back home to cover loans used to pay criminal gangs for Channel crossings.
Migrants housed in UK hotels have revealed how they share bikes and illegal e-bikes, many modified to exceed speed limits, to work as "substitute" riders.
Deliveroo is one of the firms favoured by asylum seekers (file pic)
PA/GB News
Courier accounts are thought to be rented on the black market for between £75 and £100 weekly. In 2023, the Home Office found two in five delivery drivers stopped during random checks were working illegally.
A resident at a London hotel housing male asylum seekers said "nearly all" inhabitants worked as couriers to cover their Channel crossing costs.
People smugglers are promoting the UK as the ultimate asylum destination, claiming the gig economy offers "easy" work opportunities.
An Istanbul-based smuggler told undercover reporters that Britain is best because "all you need is a mobile phone and a bike" to make "good money".
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Just Eat delivery riders in London (file pic)
PA
A Dunkirk-based trafficker, charging £1,370 for a Channel crossing, promised: "You'll find work very easily. There are easy jobs you can do while staying in hotels they put you in."
Another smuggler from Calais reassured potential "customers" that borrowed funds can be easily repaid through delivery work. In London, Gholam, a 26-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, admitted he "technically" should not be working while staying at a Home Office-funded hotel.
"My family lent me the money to pay the smugglers. Now, I need to work to send them money back," he said.
He pays £70 weekly to rent an account for the delivery app Stuart and sends about £300 monthly to his family. "Nine out of ten guys have borrowed money from their relatives to get here," another courier explained.
Unclipping a heavy battery pack from an e-bike, one migrant courier admitted having "a few problems" with police.
"I am scared of the police. One or two times, I have been chased by them. But I escaped," he said. His modified e-bike can reportedly reach 40mph, well above the legal 15.5mph limit.
One London hostel had a makeshift bike workshop where asylum seekers repaired bikes, with thermal bags bearing UberEats, Just Eat and Deliveroo branding visible.
A Middle Eastern migrant courier struggled to identify common road signs when shown the Highway Code. He mistook a Give Way sign for No Entry and misidentified several other important road warnings.
Dame Angela Eagle PADame Angela Eagle, the border security minister, said: "Under our Plan for Change, we are introducing tough new laws to tackle illegal working."
The Government is extending Right to Work checks for gig economy workers and increasing penalties to £60,000 per illegal worker.
Delivery companies have responded with statements about their security measures.
A Deliveroo spokesman said the company had worked with the Home Office and "led the industry to secure our platform against illegal working", having introduced "direct right to work checks" and a registration for substitute riders, with daily identity verification checks.
He added: "We are currently rolling out additional device ID checks for all riders and will continue to strengthen our controls to prevent misuse of our platform."
An Uber Eats delivery bike
Getty ImagesAn Uber Eats spokesman said the business had also worked with the Home Office to ensure couriers who use its app undergo right-to-work checks.
They added that Uber Eats had launched "new detection tools to crack down on anyone attempting to work illegally on our platform" and was removing "fraudulent accounts."
He added: "Safety incidents on the Uber Eats platform are incredibly rare, and if a courier engages in any illegal or unsafe behaviour, we take a range of actions, including permanently deactivating the courier’s access to the app."
A Just Eat spokesman said it sets "high standards and clear criteria for our self-employed couriers", including criminal records, age, insurance and right to work checks, with the relevant documentation.
He added that spot checks are carried out on couriers and that a "voluntary rollout of biometric checks" had recently been introduced.
