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Following is a question by the Hon Mrs Selina Chow and a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, in the Legislative Council today (December 14):
Question:
It has been reported that the activities of Mainland beggar syndicates in Hong Kong have become increasingly vigorous since more citizens of Mainland cities have been permitted to visit Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme, and quite a number of physically crippled or old people are begging on the streets of Central, Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok, where pedestrian flow is heavy. Some of them are controlled by syndicates which keep watch for them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of Mainland persons arrested by the police for begging in Hong Kong each year since the implementation of the Individual Visit Scheme in August 2003; the number of those who have been successfully prosecuted, and the penalty generally imposed on them by the court;
(b) of the information the police have about controlled Mainland beggar syndicates; whether they have established a mechanism for communicating with the Mainland public security authorities to facilitate cooperation in preventing such syndicates from coming to Hong Kong, or to prohibit Mainland persons who have been arrested for begging in Hong Kong from re-entering Hong Kong within a specified period; and
(c) as the Individual Visit Scheme has been further extended since November this year, to four more cities, i.e. Chengdu, Jinan, Shenyang and Dalian and will be extended to other places of the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, of the corresponding measures to be taken by the police to prevent Mainland beggar syndicates from taking advantage of such opportunities to increase their activities in Hong Kong?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Police have started to collate figures with regard to Mainland visitors' involvement in crime in Hong Kong since 2004. Over 12 million Mainland visitors in 2004, of whom 197 persons were arrested for begging and 19 of them were prosecuted. The remaining persons were repatriated. Between January and October 2005 there were more than 10.18 million Mainland visitors. Amongst them, 131 persons were arrested for begging and four of the arrested persons were prosecuted. All other arrested persons were repatriated. The penalty of convicted persons imposed by the Court ranges from a fine of $400 to $1,000, or four days' to one month's imprisonment (including suspended sentence).
(b) So far, there is no Police intelligence indicating that Mainland visitors begging in Hong Kong are controlled and arranged by syndicates. However, the Police will monitor the situation closely and will maintain close liaison and exchange intelligence with the Mainland authorities to prevent such illegal activities. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has established an effective notification mechanism with the Mainland authorities to scrutinise the future applications for visiting Hong Kong from Mainland visitors who have previously been involved in illegal activities in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the Police will continue to monitor the situation and frontline officers have been instructed to take appropriate actions against persons involved in begging by considering prosecution where appropriate and arranging for their repatriation to the Mainland.
(c) During the first 10 months of 2005, there were more than 4.5 million "Individual Visitor Scheme" Mainland visitors to Hong Kong, with only 14 being arrested for begging. The Police therefore consider that further relaxation of the "Individual Visitor Scheme" will not have a great impact on the trend of Mainland visitors involved in begging activities in Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:12
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