HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities have arrested 20 people, including domestic helpers suspected of unlawfully providing services such as massages and manicures, in a crackdown on illegal labour.
The Immigration Department said that it conducted a three-day operation across the city between Sunday (March 8) and Tuesday (March 10), searching 19 target locations, including restaurants, care homes, hotels, commercial and industrial buildings and public places.
Officers arrested 20 people, including 14 suspected illegal workers or overstayers. Six residents were arrested on suspicion of employing illegal workers or being involved.
The 14 suspected illegal workers or overstayers – a man and 13 women, aged 28 to 50 – were mostly Indonesian or Filipino nationals.
Among them were 11 domestic workers and a former helper who overstayed a visa. Another arrestee was staying in Hong Kong as a visitor, while one person was the holder of a recognisance form that prohibited employment in Hong Kong.
The six residents arrested – a man and five women, aged 30 to 60 – were owners or in charge of the companies involved.
Fu Chit-ho, senior immigration officer of the Foreign Domestic Helpers Special Investigation Section, said officers inspected several pedestrian overpasses and tunnels in Central district on Sunday to combat helpers violating their conditions of stay.
They arrested a man and two women – two domestic helpers and a visitor who violated their conditions of stay. All three were Filipino nationals aged 38 to 46.
Evidence, including massage guns and oils, and manicure and related beauty products, were seized.
Fu said the investigation revealed that the arrested domestic helpers, to earn extra money, set up makeshift stalls in public places such as pedestrian overpasses and tunnels in Central on their days off without their employers’ knowledge.
They attracted customers with low prices, offering massage and manicure services to those from their countries, with each service costing about HK$50, he said.
The other arrested illegal workers were suspected of working as dishwashers and kitchen helpers in restaurants or offering massages in commercial and residential buildings, he said.
“The Immigration Department will continue actively following up on the relevant investigation, and does not rule out that more people will be arrested or prosecuted,” Fu said.
Under Hong Kong law, employers hiring workers illegally can be fined a maximum of HK$500,000 and jailed for up to 10 years. Any person violating their terms of stay in the city can also be prosecuted, with a maximum penalty of a HK$50,000 fine and two years’ imprisonment.
Illegal immigrants, those under a repatriation order, and people who have overstayed or been refused entry to Hong Kong are prohibited from entering into any form of business or employment, whether paid or unpaid. Those who break the law can be fined up to HK$50,000 and jailed for a maximum of three years. - South China Morning Post
