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Two illegal workers holding Immigration recognisance forms were jailed for 14 months by Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts yesterday (January 20) under the Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance 2009 which came into effect on November 14. Holders of Immigration recognisance forms are not allowed to take up employment.
During an anti-illegal workers operation on November 18, a 24-year-old South Asian was found preparing food inside a kitchen and also delivering cooked food from the kitchen to customers in a restaurant at Yau Ma Tei. The illegal worker entered Hong Kong unlawfully in April 2007 and remained without the authority of the Director of Immigration. In June 2007, he was arrested for remaining in Hong Kong illegally and subsequently released on recognisance. He was then employed as an odd job worker in the restaurant.
Another South Asian, aged 28, was also found working in a hawking stall in Mong Kok during the same operation. Records revealed that he entered Hong Kong unlawfully in November 2007 and remained without the authority of the Director of Immigration. He was arrested for remaining in Hong Kong illegally and subsequently released on recognisance. He was then employed as an odd job worker, joining and tidying some metal bars, in the hawking stall.
They each pleaded guilty to one count of taking employment while being a person who remained in Hong Kong without the authority of the Director of Immigration after having landed in Hong Kong unlawfully. They were each jailed for 14 months.
"The Immigration Department will continue to strengthen law enforcement to combat unlawful employment now that the amended ordinance is in effect. It is an offence for illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order to take up employment, whether paid or unpaid, or to establish or join in any business. Offenders are liable to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for three years," an Immigration spokesman said.
The spokesman also appealed to employers not to employ illegal workers, warning that it was an offence to employ people who were not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years. To deter unlawful employment, the High Court laid down a sentencing guideline in 2004 reaffirming that it was a serious offence to employ someone who was not legally employable, and the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence.
Ends/Thursday, January 21, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:49
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