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Government takes tough action against illegal workers
The Secretary for Security, Mr Peter Lai, said today (Tuesday) that the Government was serious about its commitment to take tough enforcement action against visitors, imported workers and foreign domestic helpers who took up illegal work.
Speaking at the summit meeting to discuss employment issues, Mr Lai said illegal workers who were arrested would be prosecuted for breaching their conditions of stay and were punishable by a maximum fine of $5,000 and two years' imprisonment.
"Employers who hire unemployable persons are liable on conviction to a heavier fine of $250,000 and three years' imprisonment," he said.
Mr Lai said the levels of fines were being revised to account for cumulative inflation in past years.
"The new levels are expected to come into effect later this year and will be substantially higher than existing levels," he said.
Last year, the Task Force of the Immigration Department, the Police, the Labour Department and the Urban Services Department mounted more than 1,000 operations at places of employment, and in the past five months alone as many as 624 raids were carried out.
"As a result of these raids, more than 5,000 illegal workers and 1,400 employers were investigated last year, which eventually led to the prosecution of about 3,000 illegal workers and more than 900 employers," he said.
He added that the size of the Immigration Task Force would be doubled later this year and, with the additional manpower, raids of places of illegal employment could be further intensified.
The Secretary urged the public to help the Government tackle the problem by providing information concerning illegal workers and their employers.
On preventive measures, Mr Lai said the Immigration Department maintained a careful record of employers who applied for quota under the labour importation schemes.