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The Immigration Department arrested 13 illegal workers and eight people suspected to have employed them during a series of territory-wide anti-illegal worker operations in Hong Kong from October 3 to 4.
Immigration Task Force Officers raided 20 target locations in various districts including restaurants, salons, a retail shop, a home for the elderly, a village house under renovation and some street locations. The illegal workers comprised two men and 11 women aged between 22 and 51. Moreover, one woman was found to have been using and in possession of a suspected forged Hong Kong identity card.
Three men and five women, aged from 40 to 68, were suspected to have employed the illegal workers.
"Visitors are not allowed to take up employment, whether paid or unpaid, without the prior permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for two years," an Immigration Department spokesman warned.
The spokesman warned that it was an offence in law to use or possess a forged identity card. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and imprisonment for 10 years.
The spokesman also 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. 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/her valid travel document. The maximum penalty is a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for one year. 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/Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:10
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