Reply:
22
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Mr President,
(a)
(b)
(c)
From 1 December 1995 to 30 November 1996, 298,775 Two-way Permit holders came to Hong Kong. During the same period, 28,636 Two-way Permit holders were found to have overstayed. Compared with the figures for the same period for the previous year, the percentage of overstayers has decreased from 15% to 9%.
Any persons, including the Two-way Permit holders, who have breached their condition of stay in Hong Kong, will be charged for breach of condition of stay under Section 41 of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap.115). In January 1996, a legislative amendment was introduced to increase the maximum fine for breach of condition of stay by ten times from $5,000 to $50,000. After the revision, the usual fines imposed by the Courts on Two-way Permit overstayers have increased considerably from the former range of $500 - $1,000 to the current range of $1,500 - $2,000, with about 4% of the convicted overstayers fined $5,000 - $10,000. The decrease in number of Two-way Permit overstayers from a monthly average of 3,188 in 1995 to 2,345 in 1996 indicates that the increased fines coupled with the stepping up of enforcement measures are effective deterrents.
The Administration will keep its immigration policy under constant review, but we do not have any plan to revise the penalties for overstaying at present.
Any persons who are found to have committed an offence in Hong Kong will be apprehended and charged under the relevant provisions of the laws of Hong Kong.
In addition to the normal law enforcement measures taken by the Police and other departments, the following actions have been taken -
(i)
Regular and frequent raids and prosecution actions against Two- way Permit illegal workers and their employers have been launched. In the first eleven months of 1996, 1,523 anti-illegal worker operations were conducted. As a result, 2,191 Two-way Permit illegal workers and 778 employers hiring them were arrested. 2,066 of the Two-way Permit illegal workers and 329 employers were subsequently prosecuted.