*****************************************
The Immigration Department, Police Force and Labour Department arrested 17 illegal workers and 10 people suspected to have employed them during a series of territory-wide anti-illegal worker operations in Hong Kong Island from June 28 to 29.
Enforcement Officers raided 37 target locations in various districts including restaurants, hawker stalls, recycling depots, a foot reflexology centre, retail shops and a residential unit under decoration. The illegal workers comprised nine men and eight women aged between 20 and 57. Among them, two were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit employment. Moreover, one woman was found to have in possession of a suspected forged Hong Kong Identity card.
Meanwhile, during another anti-illegal worker operation in a retail shop on June 28, Immigration Department Task Force officers arrested three male illegal workers, aged 22 to 27, and one person suspected to have employed them. All illegal workers were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit employment.
"Visitors are not allowed to take up employment, whether paid or unpaid, without the prior permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for two years. It is also an offence for illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order to take any employment or to establish or join in any business. Offenders are liable to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for three years," an Immigration Department spokesman said.
The spokesman also warned that it was an offence in law to use or possess a forged identity card. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and imprisonment for 10 years.
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/Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Issued at HKT 19:40
NNNN
