UK immigration criticised in case where people smuggler married his sister
February 11 2010 by Liam Clifford
A Vietnamese national was jailed for 11 years yesterday in a case where the UK immigration controls were ridiculed by the presiding judge.
Hanh Van Vu, 40, was jailed yesterday alongside his sister for a people smuggling racket that saw over 100 immigrants enter into the UK illegally.
The offences in which those from Vietnam paid Van Vu large sums of money to enter the UK, then saw him put them to work to repay him in what is being described as a ‘slavery operation’. The case, which took place at Northampton Crown Court, heard how Van Vu was only allowed to stay in the UK after he duped UK immigration authorities into thinking he had married a UK citizen after marrying his half sister Duc Thi Vu, 47, who had been living in the UK for 19 years under a false identity.
Judge Richard Bray in ruling told the court that UK immigration rules were ‘wholly inadequate’ for allowing the offences to take place and questioned the ability of authorities to carry out the duty of deportation after their release, seeing as they had failed to enforce immigration law on the pair or the immigrants they smuggled into the UK previously.
"The measures taken by the Immigration Directorate and Borders Agency were pitifully inadequate.
"Illegal immigrants were simply let onto the streets without scrutiny and it cannot be said this is just a historic problem."
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