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A series of enforcement operations, including operations "Twilight" conducted by Immigration Task Force and Interdepartmental operation mounted by the Immigration Department, the Police Force, the Labour Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to combat illegal employment activities in the past week. 60 illegal workers and 11 people suspected of employing them were arrested.
Immigration Department Task Force deployed around 90 members to conduct the operations. During the operations, enforcement officers raided 51 target locations in various districts, including recycling depots, restaurants, premises under renovation, retail stores and factory. Among the operations mounted in Tsim Sha Tsui, Sham Shui Po, Central, Chai Wan, Tsing Yi, Tsuen Wan, Sheung Shui and Tuen Mun districts, 60 illegal workers and 11 employers were arrested. The illegal workers comprised 24 men and 36 women aged between 23 and 67. Among them, four were holders of recognisance forms issued by the Immigration Department, which prohibit employment. Six men and five women, whose ages ranged from 40 to 54, were suspected of employing the illegal workers.
The operation is continuing.
"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 face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years' imprisonment," an Immigration Department spokesman said.
The spokesman warned that it is 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 maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal has issued a guideline ruling that a sentence of 15 months' imprisonment should be applied in such cases.
The spokesman also appealed to employers not to employ illegal workers, warning that it is an offence to employ people who are 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 or her valid travel document. The maximum penalty for failing to do so is a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for one year. To deter unlawful employment, the High Court laid down sentencing guidelines in 2004 reaffirming that it is a serious offence to employ someone who is not legally employable, and stating that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence.
Ends/Friday, June 8, 2012
Issued at HKT 20:13
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