Illegal immigrant found working in Parliament

Published on Saturday 9 February 2008 23:10

AN ILLEGAL Brazilian immigrant who disappeared in 2004 worked as a cleaner inside the Houses of Parliament for nearly two months, it emerged last night.

Elaine Chaves Aparecida, 31, was only caught last week as she tried to gain access using someone else's security pass.

The latest highly embarrassing lapse to hit the Government is revealed in a confidential memo to Home Office minister Liam Byrne that was leaked to a Sunday newspaper.

The document advises ministers to keep quiet about the incident unless asked by the media, "given recent coverage of security guards employed illegally at Government offices".

In December, a member of security staff at the Home Office itself was arrested after being exposed as an illegal immigrant.

The memo, marked "restricted", was sent on the day of the arrest, January 31, by Border & Immigration Agency (BIA) regional director Tony Smith to the minister and BIA chief Lin Homer. It said post-arrest checks found that Aparecida was known to the authorities, having fled officials at Heathrow Airport in December 2004.

Despite that, she had "started work at the Houses of Parliament on December 3, 2007, as an employee of Emprise Services", it said.

The official admitted he did not have details of the security pass or who it belonged to, "but enquiries are ongoing".

The memo gives guidance which is bound to spark claims of an attempted cover-up of the major security breach.

"We will take a reactive approach to media given recent coverage of security guards employed illegally at Government offices," it says.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was forced to admit in December that more than 11,000 illegal workers may have been cleared to get jobs as security guards.

Last month it was revealed that at least 4,000 had still not been banned from taking sensitive security jobs – nearly 10 months after the scandal first came to light.

Aparecida is believed to have been returned to Brazil voluntarily last week after being held in detention for several days.

Jonathan Lindley, the Home Office strategic director for enforcement, said employers had a responsibility to check the legal status of workers.

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: "Of all the Home Office disasters, this has the biggest security implications.

"What makes this even worse is that ministers' first instinct was to cover it up. We need an immediate, full explanation of what is being done to prevent any repetition of this terrifying breach of security and a commitment from ministers to genuine openness."