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Following is a question by the Hon Yiu Si-wing and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (February 4):
Question:
Some members of the public have relayed to me that visitors coming to Hong Kong for engagement in prostitution activities has become increasingly rampant in recent years, and that the penalties imposed on such visitors for engagement in these illegal activities are too lenient to have any deterrent effect. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of reports received by the Police in each of the past three years about visitors engaging in prostitution activities in Hong Kong, with a breakdown by the country/place from which the arrested persons came;
(2) of the number of visitors prosecuted for contravening the conditions of stay by engaging in prostitution activities in Hong Kong, the number of such persons convicted, as well as the terms of imprisonment and the amounts of fines imposed by the Court on the convicted persons, in the past three years; and
(3) of the new measures the authorities have put in place to curb visitors coming to Hong Kong for engagement in prostitution activities, and whether they will consider stepping up the law enforcement efforts, raising the penalties concerned and denying entry of such persons who have been convicted?
Reply:
President,
(1) The number of complaints against unlawful employment (sex work) received by the Immigration Department (ImmD) from 2012 to 2014 is set out as follows:
Year Number of Complaints (Note 1)
---- ------------------------------
2012 636
2013 527
2014 497
Note 1: The Police do not maintain the relevant statistics.
The breakdown of the number of persons arrested for being suspected of taking up unlawful employment (sex work) is set out as follows:
Year Place of origin
The Mainland Other Total (Note 2)
----- ------------ ----- --------------
2012 3 501 118 3 619
2013 3 708 121 3 829
2014 4 039 94 4 133
Note 2: Including persons who have contravened the conditions of stay (such as overstaying) and illegal immigrants.
(2) The number of persons being prosecuted and convicted for taking up unlawful employment (sex work) in the past three years is set out as follows:
Year Number of Number of
persons persons
prosecuted convicted
---- ---------- ----------
2012 939 919
2013 801 799
2014 578 573
Pursuant to section 41 of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115), any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force against him shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for two years. Most of the persons convicted for taking up unlawful employment (sex work) would be sentenced to imprisonment. The length of imprisonment sentenced in the last three years is set out as follows:
Year Length of imprisonment
---- ----------------------
2012 From four weeks
(suspended for two years)
to 14 months
2013 From one month
(suspended for two years)
to 19 months
2014 From six weeks
(suspended for three years)
to 18 months
The ImmD does not maintain statistics on the amount of fines imposed.
(3) The ImmD is committed to preventing visitors from and fighting against breaching the conditions of stay in Hong Kong including taking up unlawful employment (sex work) and has taken the following measures and enforcement actions:
(a) to assess visit visa applications and reject applications if the applicants' bona fides are in doubt;
(b) to perform immigration control at control points to avoid visitors from entering Hong Kong to engage in activities not commensurate with the conditions of stay;
(c) to enhance intelligence collection and step up enforcement operations against doubtful intermediaries or agents;
(d) to step up investigation and prosecution actions against persons who overstay and contravene the conditions of stay and also the intermediaries or agents which aid and abet them;
(e) to step up enforcement actions including joint operations with other law enforcement agencies; and
(f) to enhance publicity to drive home the message that hiring illegal workers is a criminal offence and that employers have to inspect travel documents of non-Hong Kong permanent resident job seekers before hiring them; and encourage the public to report illegal employment via hotline, facsimile, mail or on-line platform.
With a view to effectively deterring Mainland visitors from entering Hong Kong to take up unlawful employment, the ImmD will continue to exchange intelligence with the Mainland authorities and pass the particulars of those Mainland visitors who were convicted to the Mainland authorities to cancel their exit endorsements and prevent them from entering Hong Kong for two years in accordance with the established mechanism. For those not convicted but reasonably suspected to have breached the Immigration Ordinance, they will be subject to secondary examination upon their subsequent visits to Hong Kong. If their purposes of visiting Hong Kong are in doubt, they will be refused entry and repatriated to the Mainland immediately.
In parallel, the Police will adopt a multi-agency approach to combat illegal sex activities and continue to liaise and exchange intelligence with the Mainland and overseas law enforcing agencies in the curbing of organised prostitution activities.
Ends/Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:01
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