Steps are being taken by the Home Office to deport suspected illegal immigrants, found working on the new Queensferry Crossing. it has emerged.
Construction union UCATT has warned the Home Office operation, which took place at the site on Monday, is just one example of wider workplace abuses on the Scottish Parliament’s flagship project.
A total of seven Indian workers were detained by officials from the Home Office’s immigration, compliance and enforcement team following tip-offs.
They were held at Dunfermline Sheriff Court but later released without charge.
However, six of the men have remained under detention while steps are taken to remove them from the UK.
One man has been temporarily released and will have to report to immigration enforcement officers while his case is progressed.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Immigration enforcement officers carried out an operation at a construction site at Builyeon Road, South Queensferry, on Monday as part of an investigation into illegal working.
“Seven Indian nationals were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences. The investigation is ongoing.”
A spokesperson for The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said, “After full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, the procurator fiscal instructed that they be liberated from custody and that there should be no proceedings taken against these individuals.”
It is understood the men were not employed directly by the Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) but by a sub-contractor.
Steve Dillon, regional secretary of UCATT Scotland, claimed workplace abuses on the site have increased since the consortium decided not to replace the union’s convener in October.
“This flagship project is now operating like the Wild West,” he claimed.
“Without a union convener the site has no sheriff and this is inevitably going to increase the exploitation and mistreatment of workers.”
Economy minister Keith Brown said: “I have written to the Home Office minister Robert Goodwill requesting an urgent discussion and to seek re-assurance over the measures in place to address the issue of the use of illegal foreign workers.
