Warning - Warning - WarningTo our British illegal cousins -- They are getting sick of you over there, as well. ASSI is ready to help you, dear cousins. We have plenty of extra illegals to help reinforce you if you want.
A BBC News investigation into an illegal immigrant community in London has led to the arrests of three men and claims of forged documents and workers being exploited. Southall's residents give their reaction to these so-called faujis.
"They're living, cooking, eating in the same room while the landlords are collecting more rent. It's not a good life. It's a rough life," said legal Indian immigrant Vijay Sarin, above.
"To be honest, it's very, very embarrassing. I feel bad that they're out there, terrible."
A woman in a shop in Southall's King Street looks nervously outside, at the groups of middle-aged men hanging around on street corners.
Many of them are waiting for offers of work, which will mostly likely be unskilled, over long hours and for much less than the minimum wage.
They are dressed rather shabbily and match the description of faujis - the term illegal immigrants use to describe themselves. They seem rather placid and lounge against walls, and on benches.
The shop worker does not want to be identified, and seems afraid of what will happen if she publicly speaks out.
"I used to feel sorry for them, when they tell you they've spent 800,000 Indian rupees to come over here - that's nearly £12,000," the lady from the shop continues from behind the counter.
"But no more. There's been groups hanging around for the last three or four years, and I have to walk past them every day to get to work.
It's also really easy to get a false passport - I've got a fake Portuguese one at home in my drawer, and some false Italian documents."
"I just want them to go and for the police to deal with them."
Outside, King Street is a busy, bustling place, that looks tired.
Fruit and vegetable stalls mingle with takeaway restaurants which have seen better days, and faded signs offer cheap calls to far-flung locations next to general stores crammed to the rafters with a dizzying array of seemingly random goods.
The men hanging around at the end of the road have now gone. It is hard to confirm they are fauji, but certainly when they first spotted the BBC film crew arriving, a group of three sitting together casually stood up and wandered away.
When the crew began to pack up they drifted back to their original spot.
Striding up King Street is Boyd Williams, a pastor at Southall Baptist Church who has lived in the area for 30 years.
He saw the BBC's investigation on Wednesday night's news, and is not surprised at its findings, which included widespread unlawful job practices, squalid housing, and a thriving trade in fake documents.
Supt Jenkins says illegal immigrants are not just an issue in Southall
He says: "It's extremely difficult to get a legal worker in Southall.
"I wanted building work doing at my church, and I wanted the workers to be legal, and my neighbour told me that would be difficult to arrange.
"It's also really easy to get a false passport - I've got a fake Portuguese one at home in my drawer, and some false Italian documents.
"One of my parishioners gave them to me after a crisis of conscience.
"But it's not just Southall, it's a London problem and a nationwide problem. But there is so much pressure around here to cut corners and pay backhanders. It's extremely difficult to be honest about things."
Superintendent Ian Jenkins is the acting borough commander in Ealing, and says the problem of illegal immigrants happens "all over London " and names Kilburn, the East End and Harringay as other hotspots.
He said: "We meet with representatives in the community who tell us the issues that they want us to tackle as a priority.
"Immigration has not come up before. Maybe there's now an opportunity for members of the community to pass on any information they have."
Groups of men often hang around the main streets of Southall
Supt Jenkins says, despite some people's fears, there is nothing to fear from having to walk past large groups of men hanging around, looking for work.
He said: "There may be a certain level of personal apprehension, but you should not worry about having to walk past them."
A short distance away from King Street is the quiet residential street of Marlborough Road , where one of the arrested men lives.
Vijay Sarin, 63, who lives a few doors down, is unhappy with the illegal immigrants in her community.
She, like everyone else, says she knows about them, how they live crammed into houses, and how they work illegally for poor pay.
She said: "In just one house there's many people. It's dangerous because you don't know their background. They're illegal and not paying tax. They live in garages, not even in a proper house."
She does, however, express some concern and a dash of sympathy for those working long hours for minimal pay, and who live in crammed and squalid conditions.
"They're living, cooking, eating in the same room while the landlords are collecting more rent. It's not a good life. It's a rough life."
Three men are still being interviewed by the police and the UK Border Agency in connection with immigration offences.
Advice from Muhammed - 2nd entry
PART ONE
