Official tweets showing raids of suspects are described by critics as 'dystopian' and likened to 'UK Hunger Games'

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

The Home Office has found itself at the centre of a Twitter storm amid mounting criticism of its tactics to crack down on illegal immigration.

Users of the service poured scorn on the government department's official Twitter account as it posted details of raids made against people suspected of working illegally in the UK.

The account posted several updates on arrests, including pixelated photos of suspects, made at locations including London, Durham, Manchester, Wales and Somerset.

The Guardian columnist Charlie Brooker tweeted: "Hey @ukhomeoffice why not make your tweet-a-long-a-stormtroop gallery of brown folk thrown in vans even more dystopian by using cattleprods?"

Comedian David Schneider tweeted: "I'm enjoying @ukhomeoffice's tweeting of the preliminary rounds of the UK Hunger Games."

The tweets were tagged with the hashtag #immigrationoffenders. While most posts mentioned those targeted were suspects, one did not.

A post stating that 139 people had been arrested on Thursday links to a government web page headlined "Immigration offenders arrested in Home Office operations", which twice describes those arrested as offenders before mentioning they are at this stage merely suspects.

The immigration minister, Mark Harper, said: in a statement: "Today's operations highlight the routine work we are carrying out every day to stamp out illegal working. We are sending a clear message to employers who choose to use illegal labour – we will find you and you will pay a heavy penalty."

But David Allen Green, legal correspondent for the New Statesman, tweeted: "For the @ukhomeoffice to say those arrested are already #immigrationoffenders is to prejudge their cases and possibly contempt."

Mirror columnist Susie Boniface aka Fleet Street Fox tweeted: "If we all reported @ukhomeoffice as spam they can't deport us. DO IT. At least I don't think they could deport us. They'd probably try. Especially if we looked a bit tanned."

The tweets follow the controversial anti-immigration advertising campaign targeting racially mixed areas of London.

The campaign has used mobile billboards warning illegal immigrants to "go home or face arrest".

The adverts are being challenged through the courts and have been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) by a Labour peer.

Independent columnist Owen Jones criticised the Home Office tweets for continuing the government's hardcore rhetoric on immigration, criticising them as an attempt to win back voters from Ukip.

He tweeted: "Whatever concerns you might have about immigration, check out the @ukhomeoffice account and tell me you're proud to British #divideandrule.

"Sick joke is @ukhomeoffice feed is trying to get media coverage. Blatant taxpayer-funded Tory attempt to exploit fears for electoral gain."

Concerns have been raised about recent anti-immigration operations in London and Barry Gardiner, the Labour MP for Brent North, has written to the home secretary, Theresa May, following reports of spot checks.

The Independent reported that he demanded an investigation into the checks which he said violated "fundamental freedoms".

"We do not yet live in a society where the police or any other officers of the law are entitled to detain people without reasonable justification and demand their papers," Gardiner wrote. "The actions of your department would however appear to be hastening us in that direction."

Writing in the Independent, Dave Garratt, the chief executive of charity Refugee Action, warned that the operations could "incite racial tensions".

"Over the last few weeks we've seen some very visible signs of the government's 'hostile environment' crusade. There have been vans out on the streets with threatening slogans and, reportedly, non-white people being visibly stopped and searched," he wrote.

A Home Office spokesman defended the tactics: "We make no apology for enforcing our immigration laws and our officers carry out hundreds of operations like this every year around London."

The immigration bill, which will be introduced later this year, will carry proposals to tackle rogue businesses by increasing the amount they will be charged if they are found to be employing illegal workers.

The shadow immigration minister, Chris Bryant, called on the home secretary to provide reassurance that people were not being stopped by immigration officials because of their ethnicity.

He said: "Intelligence-led operations to remove illegal immigrants are to be welcomed. Racial profiling is not."