By Paul Reoch

A TOTAL of seven asylum seekers have been arrested in Pitlochry following raids in two of the town’s Indian restaurants.

The Courier can reveal that officers from the immigration service carried out the operation on Wednesday, when the men were detained under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

A spokeswoman from the Home Office last night confirmed that the asylum seekers had been arrested, saying, “We can confirm that immigration officers, with the support of Tayside police, carried out two raids on Indian restaurants in Pitlochry. And, as a result, seven immigration offenders were arrested.

“This complies with Home Office aims to tackle illegal immigrants and remove asylum seekers or other immigration offenders.

“This is just one example of the work that the immigration officers undertake every week in the UK.”

The arrests come in the same week as the furore over “dawn raids,” which are set to continue.

There had been unrest following comments from Scottish Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm, who had said he wanted an end to the controversial policy of dawn raids prior to deportation. And First Minister Jack McConnell had told the Scottish Parliament that he had expressed concerns about the heavy handedness of the procedures.

He told MSPs that due to pressure on the matter Westminster was considering reviewing the policy for the whole of UK. But UK Immigration Minister Tom McNulty has insisted that the raids would continue, as they are “central to a robust” policy, although he has conceded that the Government will be looking into the Scottish aspect of the equation.

He said he was looking at the arrangements because of pressure from the First Minister and the Executive. But he insisted that there would be no special protocol with the Executive over the policy.