Further written evidence to be reported to the House

Part of UK Borders Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:00 pm on 1 March 2007.

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Owen Tudor: You talked about the system beingvery complicated. It is complicated partly because—this is why we use the term “undocumented workers” very often rather than “illegal working” or “illegal  immigrant”—we are often talking about people who entered the country entirely legally. The Bulgarians and Romanians are an excellent case in point. Their presence in the country is entirely legal because they are citizens of the European Union and are allowed to be here. They may not be allowed to work here though, depending on which sector they are in. That might become a little complex because industrial reality sometimes does not fit simple industrial classifications.

You also have large numbers of people who are undocumented workers for part of the week, but not the other part, because they are students who have worked longer hours than they are supposed to, and things like that. Many people slip in and out of having the right documents because it may be a matter of whether their work permit has expired, and so on. It is very complex in that sense. An indication of who someone is and their ability to enter the country is not the same as an indication about whether they are a legal worker.