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The Immigration Department yesterday (August 23) arrested 10 illegal workers and three people suspected to have employed them during a territory-wide anti-illegal worker operation codenamed "Twilight".
Operation Twilight began at 7am and ended at 5.45pm yesterday. Immigration Task Force officers raided 12 target locations in various districts including restaurants, elderly homes and a garbage depot. In the operation, 10 illegal workers and three employers were arrested. The illegal workers comprised 10 women aged between 23 and 50. Among them, two were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit employment. Moreover, six of the women were in possession of suspected forged Hong Kong identity cards.
One man and two women, whose ages ranged from 33 to 58, were suspected to have employed the illegal workers.
Meanwhile, during another joint anti-illegal worker operation with the Police Force, enforcement officers arrested one female illegal worker, aged 31, and one person, aged 47, suspected to have employed her in a retail shop.
"Visitors are not allowed to take up employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the 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," 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. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker's identity card or, if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card, his/her valid travel document. The maximum penalty is a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for one year. 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, August 24, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:36
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