Restaurant owner slams immigration officials

Metin Dogrucan, proprietor of the Marabou Restaurant, in Devonshire Road, says Home Office staff executed a warrant on his premises in a heavy handed manner, scaring away some customers.

He says they even detained a member of his staff in the back of a van before releasing him after discovering he had the required papers to work in country.

Mr Dogrucan says it was the third such unsuccessful raid this year and feels he is being unfairly targeted.

A spokesman for the Border and Immigration Agency confirmed on Wednesday that a man was held and then released without charge after a search revealed he had the correct documentation - only after their original press release had incorrectly stated a Turkish national had been arrested and was awaiting 'processing' under Government guidelines.

The fiasco has left Mr Dogrucan furious.

He said: "They treated him like a dog. They put him in the back of a van while they searched his flat in Eastbourne then dropped him back here and threw the keys after him.

"I am not stupid. I am not going to employ anybody illegal - I don't want to get fined. This is the third time they have done this and each time they have found nothing. It is harassment.

"They crashed in through the door like they were James Bond or something.

"Many of the customers left because they didn't know what was going on and were scared."

It is the second such operation to be carried out by Home Office officials in Bexhill in the last week.

Last Wednesday, in a joint operation with Bexhill Police, seven people of Chinese origin were arrested at the Peking Gardens restaurant in Little Common.

Police were not involved in the Marabou raid.

Mr Dogrucan says what happened was "very upsetting."

He said: "If they want to talk to me that is fine, they can sit down and talk to me if they have a problem, but they just come in.

"They can't just come in and scare everybody like that. I am fed up with this treatment. They haven't found anything.

"I have been here for 10 years and I feel I belong in Bexhill. If anything is happening in the town of course I want it policed. But this is the third time and it is not right.

"I can't believe they treat people like this."

The Home Office originally sent a statement to the Observer reading: "We can confirm that the Border and Immigration Agency conducted an operation in the Bexhill area on July 20, 2007.

"As a result of the operation one Turkish national was arrested and has been processed in line with the Border and Immigration Agency guidance and procedures."

After a follow up inquiry a spokesman admitted they had got the date of the operation wrong (it was in fact July 21) and, although they "don't usually comment on individual cases", the man was "actually released after it was found he had the correct paperwork."

Mr Dogrucan added: "This is something which should be highlighted at a national level. What they did is just wrong."