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Britain's curry crisis

The curry mile in Manchester's Rusholme district.Indian and Bangladeshi restaurateurs face shortages of chefs and waiters amid tight immigration curbs on hiring from overseas

LONDON - Britain's curry houses are in the grip of a crisis.

Throughout the country, Indian restaurateurs say they are struggling with finding staff, the BBC reported.

With the younger generation preferring college to the curry pot, industry insiders say they are unable to fill vacancies for chefs and waiters from overseas because immigration officials have tightened up on issuing work visas.

Thousands of work visa applications are being blocked by one arm of government despite having been given the go ahead by another.

Industry representatives in Britain are lobbying MPs and appealing to the Home Office for crisis curry talks.

Mr Ahmed Koysor's experience is typical of many across the country.

Catering institutes in Bangladesh for
manpower export


Britain’s 'curry king' comes home to B'desh

He and his partners run the Sonorgaon restaurant in London. The business has tried to bring in workers from Bangladesh - but none of the recruits have been given the go-ahead.

'It's been really difficult to recruit locally,' he said. 'We have tried hiring eastern European staff but they have been mostly useless. No skills, no understanding of what we do. And besides, they need to speak the language of the kitchen if we are going to be good at what we do.'

His colleague Hamid Chowdhury says staff shortages are so common the industry is facing a curry house cull.

'Kids don't want to get into the restaurant business. Their horizons are far bigger than before. So if we can't recruit, what are we supposed to do?'

There are no official figures but industry sources estimate 50,000 people are employed in the business, making it a bigger employer than shipbuilding.

The vast majority of establishments are actually owned by the Bangladeshi community - which is where the visa problems have emerged.

Last year, the government said it would allow workers into Britain on 12-month visas to fill shortages in catering and hospitality.

If an employer can prove to the Home Office that he cannot recruit locally - and the bar is high - he is given permission to recruit overseas, at a cost of £153 (S$480) per visa.

Curry in a panThe recruit must then convince immigration officials in Bangladesh that he will not overstay his limit in Britain.

But according to the Immigration Advisory Service (IAS), an independent agency with 30 years of experience in the field, such was the demand from Indian restaurants, they used up the entire quota for Bangladesh within weeks.

The IAS estimates Britain may have initially approved up to 10,000 work permit applications for workers from Bangladesh. But the vast majority are now being refused entry, many because officials believe they will outstay their visa.

Added to that, there are numerous reports of corruption, with visas being 'sold' to the highest bidders, fraud and false documents.

'No one can appreciate how it is that two parts of the same government department can give conflicting decisions,' says Mr Keith Best, of the IAS.
 

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