Hong Kong immigration officers have arrested 21 people in a crackdown on illegal workers in the city, including two foreign domestic helpers found to be employed as mountain biking coaches without relevant credentials.
Advertisement
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 suspected 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 working as foreign domestic workers, four were former foreign domestic workers who were overstaying in the city, two held recognisance papers, one entered the city on a tourist visa, one entered illegally, while the remaining arrestee was an imported worker.
“The three men and 11 women arrested were mostly Indonesian and Filipino, aged between 27 and 51,” Lo said.
Advertisement
Officers had searched 47 locations across the city in the eight-day operation, combing through locations such as restaurants, retail shops and entertainment venues, foreign domestic helper agencies and commercial buildings.