Migrants living in asylum hotels are illegally working as fast-food delivery riders within hours of arriving in the UK, it has been claimed.
There is "clear evidence" asylum seekers are taking jobs with companies such as Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats, shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said on Tuesday.
The Conservative MP for Croydon South filmed himself visiting a hotel in central London where migrants have been placed by the Home Office while their claims for asylum are assessed.
His footage showed bikes and bags with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats branding parked outside the venue.
There was “clear evidence” the men living in the hotel were working for the companies, he said.
"These illegal immigrants are not allowed to work as delivery drivers while their asylum claim is pending, but when I looked in the bike store in the hotel, I saw delivery bags for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats on the bikes,” Mr Philp said in a letter to all three firms.
“Please can you commit to removing any driver... as a courier who does not have the right to work in the UK, including at this hotel site and elsewhere.”
He added: "This is important, as the ability to work illegally is a pull factor for illegal immigration and by allowing this to happen on your platform you are fuelling the illegal immigration crisis."
Downing Street said the Minister for Border Security, Angela Eagle, would be meeting with delivery companies next week to “address the issue”.
It comes after an investigation by The Sun revealed Deliveroo and Just Eat delivery accounts were being offered to migrants "within 10 minutes of asking" through social media groups.
The newspaper said its investigators and undercover reporters had found that migrants staying in asylum hotels across the country were joining dozens of social media groups dedicated to offering food delivery accounts for rent.
Migrants were paying as little as £40 a week for login details, according to the newspaper's investigation.
They often worked 15-hour shifts using their hotels as a base for their bikes, bags and uniforms and could make hundreds of pounds a week with guarantees from account dealers that they would not be caught, it was claimed.
An undercover Sun reporter posing as a small-boat arrival from Afghanistan said they were "quickly flooded with offers from all over the country".
It published photographs alongside the story that it said were of men leaving migrant hotels wearing branded delivery bags on their backs.
Last month an investigation by the Standard found that illegal workers were propping up some of London’s most popular restaurants.
After being caught in Home Office raids, some said they were getting paid just half minimum wage while others were working in excess of 60 hours a week.
Between July and September last year, fines totalling nearly £1.9 million were handed out by the Home Office to almost 50 London businesses, many in hospitality.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said on Tuesday: “It's right that a spotlight has been shone on this racket. It undermines honest businesses and undercuts local wages, and the British public rightly won't stand for it and neither will this government.
“We’ve taken swift action to launch a nationwide crackdown on illegal working and rogue employers in the gig economy. Since the election, illegal working arrests and raids are up by 51%.”
A Just Eat spokesperson said: “We are continuously strengthening our approach to ensure anyone who delivers through Just Eat’s platform has the right to work in the UK.
“Last year, Just Eat introduced a new mechanism requiring couriers to inform us that they are using substitutes and for these substitutes to complete right-to-work checks.
“We have now rolled out the next phase of substitute checks with enhanced biometric verification. Couriers are randomly prompted to complete a facial recognition test, ensuring the individual using the account’s facial data matches the right-to-work documentation held on our system. Any couriers who fail these checks are removed from the JET network.”
A spokesperson for Deliveroo said: “We have zero tolerance for any misuse of our platform...We have a dedicated team in place who ensure Deliveroo does not work with riders who don’t have the right to work in the UK.
“We take our responsibility extremely seriously and are consistently strengthening our controls against misuse of our platform, with further measures in development. All riders, including substitutes, must complete right to work checks.”
Uber Eats has also been approached for comment.
