Food delivery companies in France have agreed to sign a charter to prevent subcontracting of work to illegal migrants after the French government urged companies to tackle the issue.
Delivery platforms including Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Frichti have all agreed to sign the new charter, which calls for strengthening and harmonizing the ability of the companies to combat those subcontracting their accounts to illegal immigrants or those using false identities.
The companies have agreed to perform monthly checks on their delivery drivers, which must present their identity documents along with identity checks when the account has had a delivery turnover of 5,000 euros and drivers will be made to take weekly selfies to prove their identities, Le Figaro reports.
According to the French Ministry of Labour, several hundred fake accounts have already been identified and deactivated since the government began discussions on how to tackle illegal immigrants using the platforms, while Uber Eats claims it deletes between a few dozen and 300 fake accounts per month out of its estimated 50,000 drivers.
Illegal immigrants have been involved in food delivery services for years, with some claiming that couriers have exploited illegal immigrant workers by renting their accounts to them. A 26-year-old illegal from Bangladesh was arrested in Bordeaux in 2019 after being accused of raping a woman while delivering food for Uber Eats.
The migrant arrived at the victim’s apartment at just after 3 in the morning and forced his way in, raping the woman, who had previously taken a sleeping pill.
In other countries, illegal migrant delivery driver numbers have soared, such as Belgium where the majority of food delivery drivers in Brussels are said to be illegal immigrants.
Nada Ladraa, a leader for the Christian Workers’ Movement, blamed the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic for the large number of illegals in delivery work, saying illegals were taking jobs others did not want to do.