Hong Kong immigration authorities arrest 21 in crackdown on illegal workers
14 suspected illegal workers and seven alleged employers rounded up in eight-day operation targeting 47 locations
Hong Kong immigration officers have arrested 21 people in a crackdown on illegal workers in the city, including two domestic helpers found to be employed as mountain biking coaches without relevant credentials.
Lo Tin-yau, senior officer with the Immigration Department’s foreign domestic helpers special investigation section, said on Tuesday that authorities arrested 14 suspected illegal workers and seven alleged local employers over the past week.
“Illegal workers will have to face criminal liability, but hiring workers illegally is also a serious crime,” Lo said.
Among the 14 arrested workers, five were currently still employed as domestic workers. Four of the other nine were former domestic workers who were overstaying in the city, two held recognisance papers, one entered the city on a tourist visa, one entered illegally, and another was an imported worker. A recognisance form is a temporary identification document that allows holders to remain in the city but not to work.
“The three men and 11 women arrested were mostly Indonesian and Filipino, aged between 27 and 51,” Lo said.
Officers had searched 47 locations across the city in the eight-day operation, combing through locations such as restaurants, retail shops, entertainment venues, domestic helper agencies and commercial buildings.