**************************************
A series of enforcement operations, including operation "Twilight" and an interdepartmental operation to combat illegal employment activities, were mounted by the Immigration Department and the Police Force yesterday (April 11). Nine illegal workers and seven people suspected of employing them were arrested.
The operations began at 9am and ended at 10.30pm yesterday. The Immigration Task Force and the Anti-Illegal Migration Agency deployed 75 members to conduct the operations. During the operations, enforcement officers raided 15 target locations including exhibition halls, restaurants and premises under renovation. The nine illegal workers comprised five men and four women aged between 27 and 40. Among them, one was a holder of a recognisance form, which prohibits employment. Three men and four women, whose ages ranged from 23 to 64, were suspected of employing the illegal workers.
All the illegal workers were detained for questioning.
"Visitors are not allowed to take 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, April 12, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:33
NNNN
