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The Government proposed to amend the existing law to specify as an offence for taking employment, or establishing or joining in business by illegal immigrants, a Government spokesman said today (June 17).
The Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2009, to be gazetted on Friday (June 19), will be introduced into the Legislative Council next Wednesday (June 24).
"We propose to specify the taking of employment by illegal immigrants as an offence. The proposed penalty is a level five fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for three years. This is comparable to the penalty under the existing offences of 'unlawful remaining' and 'breach of conditions of stay'", the spokesman said.
"The situation of illegal immigration has deteriorated sharply in recent months. There was a surge of foreign illegal immigrants - from the monthly average of 37 in January and February 2009, to 136 in March to May 2009 (representing an increase by over 260%). Over the same period, the monthly average number of torture claims rose from 196 to 274 (representing an increase by 40%). We believe that the proposed legislative amendments will help prevent the situation from deteriorating," the spokesman said.
He said that a court judgment in early March this year ruled that recognizance granted to illegal immigrants represented an authority from the Director of Immigration for them to remain in Hong Kong. Hence they would have a defence against the charge of unlawful remaining.
"Most illegal immigrants come to Hong Kong to take unlawful employment. To maintain effective immigration control and to protect the local workforce, there is an urgent need to introduce the proposed offence," the spokesman said.
The Bill also proposes to include a new category of documents under the definition of "valid travel document" in the Immigration Ordinance. This amendment will cover Macao permanent identity cards and similar card-type documents.
"We will work closely with Members of the Legislative Council, with a view to completing the scrutiny work within this year. We hope that the immigration convenience measures can be rolled out before the end of 2009. By then, Macao visitors will only need to present their Macao permanent identity cards as travel documents to visit Hong Kong," the spokesman said.
Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:55
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