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| HK Police have stepped up sea patrols to stop illegal entrants from China |
After only three days of a joint campaign against illegal immigration, police in Hong Kong and authorities in Guangdong Province recently managed to capture 127 persons on both sides of the border.
The operation, codenamed “Mungoshunt-3”, was mounted from November 4 to 6 and was meant to round up non-ethic Chinese illegal immigrants. It involved raids on target areas on land, as well as the interception of suspicious vessels at sea.
Immigration officers, with help from Hong Kong police, raided 218 target locations and intercepted a total of 60 suspicious vessels and questioned 990 persons across the city. Two of the vessels were eventually seized and 70 persons were arrested.
Among those arrested were three people suspected of aiding and abetting the others to land and remain in Hong Kong illegally. They comprised two illegal immigrants from the Mainland, aged 23 and 28, and one Indian male, 29, who holds a recognizance form.
They were found to have helped 23 male illegal immigrants, aged 22 to 56, to sneak into Hong Kong – two from the Mainland, nine from Bangladesh, seven from Pakistan, three from India and one from Vietnam.
Separately, 36 suspected illegal workers and nine employers were arrested in operations across Hong Kong.
They included five mainlanders, one male and four females aged 38 to 59; and 31 non-ethnic Chinese consisting of six males and 25 females, aged 23 to 50.
They were arrested for breach of recognizance’s condition, taking up unapproved employment and overstaying in Hong Kong.
The nine suspected employers who were arrested consisted of eight males and a female, aged 36 to 79.
Mainland authorities, meanwhile, arrested 57 persons in Guangdong Province, including seven locals who arranged for 50 non-ethnic Chinese to sneak into Hong Kong illegally.
The would-be illegal immigrants consisted of 35 Bangladeshis, 12 Pakistanis and three Indians.
Immigration warned that arranging the passage to Hong Kong of unauthorized entrants or assisting them to remain in the city illegally are serious offences.
The so-called arrangers face a maximum fine of $5 million and up to 14 years imprisonment. Those who assist them to remain in Hong Kong could be fined up to $500,000 and jailed for up to 10 years.
On the other hand, illegal immigrants, overstayers or those holding recognizance documents could be jailed for up to three years and fined $50,000 if they take up employment while in Hong Kong.
The penalty is more severe if they use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card, which could lead to the offender being meted the maximum fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for up to 10 years.
