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An illegal worker holding an Immigration recognisance form was jailed for 20 months by Sha Tin Magistrates' Court yesterday (March 17). Holders of Immigration recognisance forms are not allowed to take up employment.
During an anti-illegal workers joint operation on January 19, a 25-year-old man was found working at a recycling site in Lau Fau Shan.
Investigations revealed that he entered Hong Kong unlawfully in October 2009 and remained without the authority of the Director of Immigration. He was arrested for illegally remaining in Hong Kong and subsequently released on recognisance. He was then employed as an odd job worker placing computer covers into a pressing machine and binding them with string at the Lau Fau Shan recycling site. He was convicted after trial of one count of taking employment while being a person who remains in Hong Kong without the authority of the Director of Immigration after having landed in Hong Kong unlawfully.
"The Immigration Department will continue to strengthen law enforcement to combat unlawful employment now that the Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance 2009 is in effect. 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, whether paid or unpaid, or to establish or join in any business. Offenders are liable to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for three years," an Immigration Department spokesman said.
The spokesman 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. 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/Thursday, March 18, 2010
Issued at HKT 12:36
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