Hong Kong immigration officers have arrested 34 people, including 13 former domestic helpers who overstayed their visas, during an operation to crack down on illegal labour.
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The operation is the third in two months in which current and former domestic helpers were caught working illegally.
The Immigration Department said on Friday that officers conducted a three-day anti-illegal work operation from Tuesday to Thursday, carrying out raids on multiple locations across the city, including restaurants and food manufacturing plants.
Officers arrested 34 people, including 24 illegal workers, two overstayers and eight others suspected of employing illegal workers.
The arrested illegal workers included one man and 23 women aged 22 to 52. Among them were 13 former domestic helpers who overstayed their visas, 10 holders of recognisance forms, which prohibited them from taking any employment in the city, and one mainland Chinese visitor who overstayed a visa.
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Most of those arrested were engaged in jobs such as dishwashing, cleaning and kitchen work, with the longest stint lasting nearly a year. They earned daily wages of HK$300 (US$38.50) to HK$500.