The Food and Health Bureau announced today (April 12) the appointment of Mr Kiyotaka Ando, Mr Peter Johnston and Mr Gerry Ma Kwai-yung as new members to the Committee on Reduction of Salt and Sugar in Food for the period f… read more
The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted a territory-wide anti-illegal worker operation codenamed “Twilight” from April 8 to 11. A total of 16 illegal workers and four suspected employers were arrested.
During the operation, ImmD Task Force officers raided 37 target locations including companies, construction sites, an elderly home, factories, a massage parlour, a residential building, restaurants and warehouses. Sixteen illegal workers and four employers were arrested. The illegal workers comprised four men and 12 women, aged 30 to 54. Among them, one woman was a holder of a recognisance form, which prohibits her from taking any employment. Meanwhile, two men and two women, aged 34 to 48, were suspected of employing the illegal workers.
“Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years’ imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties,” an ImmD spokesman said.
The spokesman warned that, as stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years’ imprisonment. The Court of Appeal has issued a guideline ruling that a sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment should be applied in such cases.
The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for three years and a fine of $350,000. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence. According to court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee’s identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker’s valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. The maximum penalty for failing to inspect such a document is imprisonment for one year and a fine of $150,000.
Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threat and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent interference, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments. read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
Under the Particulars Relating to Candidates on Ballot Papers (Legislative Council and District Councils) Regulation (Cap. 541M), candidates in the Legislative Council and District Council elections may apply to print certain registered particulars on the ballot papers for easier identification by electors.
Bodies or persons wishing to register or amend their particulars with the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) in the 2019 registration cycle should hand in their applications by June 15. According to the Regulation, these particulars include the names, abbreviations of names and emblems of prescribed bodies, and the personal emblems of prescribed persons.
In accordance with the Regulation, approved specified particulars have been included in a register made available for public inspection at the EAC’s website (www.eac.hk). Bodies or persons concerned are not required to make another application in respect of the specified particulars which have been approved and included in the register.
“Although applications can be submitted at any time during the year, only those applications submitted on or before the statutory cut-off date of June 15 will be processed in the 2019 registration cycle. Applications submitted after June 15 will only be processed in the 2020 registration cycle,” a spokesman for the EAC said today (April 12).
Application forms are available at the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) and all District Offices. They can also be downloaded from the EAC’s website.
The EAC will carefully consider all applications in accordance with the criteria and procedures stipulated in the Regulation.
Details of all successful applications will be gazetted and open to public inspection at the REO during office hours. The public can also view the information at the EAC’s website.
For enquiries concerning the application procedures, please call the REO hotline on 2891 1001. read more
Following is the English translation of the opening remarks by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, at the special meeting of the Legislative Council Finance Committee today (April 12):
Chairman,
　　In the draft Estimates for the new financial year, allocation for the policy areas under the Security Bureau’s responsibility will account for $48.9 billion, representing 8 per cent of the total government expenditure.
On law and order, the major operational targets of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) for 2019 are to combat violent crimes, triads, syndicated and organised crimes, dangerous drugs and “quick-cash” crimes; to enhance cyber security and combat technology crimes; and to ensure public safety and step up counter-terrorism work.
A total of 179 additional posts will be created in the HKPF in 2019-20. These new posts are mainly for increasing manpower support for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), strengthening the HKPF’s capability in tackling trafficking in persons (TIP) and protecting foreign domestic helpers, and enhancing Hong Kong’s capabilities in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, etc.
On control points, the two new ports at the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link West Kowloon Terminal and the HZMB Hong Kong Port were commissioned in September and October 2018 respectively. Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point is expected to come into operation in 2019-20, and the front-line law enforcement departments will get prepared for the commissioning to ensure smooth operation of the new control point.
　　On non-refoulement claims, since the commencement of the comprehensive review of the strategy for handling non-refoulement claims in early 2016, various measures have yielded considerable results so far. The numbers of illegal immigrants and non-refoulement claims have dropped significantly by 80 per cent from the peak. The Immigration Department (ImmD) has also basically completed the screening of the backlog of over 10 000 claims. Although there are still some 6 000 appeals pending handling by the Torture Claims Appeal Board, the number is expected to drop gradually with their handling completed in two years.
The Government will continue with various suitable measures, including the submission of an amendment bill to amend the Immigration Ordinance for improving the screening procedures, and will ensure that sufficient resources are available to handle the claims and appeals efficiently and fairly, coupled with dedicated efforts into expediting the removal of the rejected claimants from Hong Kong.
On combating TIP, in March last year, the Government established a high-level inter-bureau/departmental Steering Committee for combating TIP. It is chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration. At the same time, an Action Plan, with 14 new measures, was promulgated. In 2019-20, the HKPF, the ImmD, the Customs and Excise Department, the Labour Department and the Department of Justice will create a total of 98 posts to continue full and vigorous implementation of various measures promulgated in the Action Plan.
On the territory-wide identity card replacement exercise, the territory-wide identity card replacement exercise commenced in December 2018. The ImmD will continue to replace the existing smart Hong Kong identity cards of all holders in phases at the nine Smart Identity Card Replacement Centres.
On fire and ambulance services, the Fire Services Department (FSD) will have 135 new posts in the new financial year, which are mainly for increasing ambulance shifts; serving as ambulance hospital controllers; operating the Rail-Road Fire Appliance procured for fire-fighting and rescue operations in railway conduits and tunnels; and strengthening the department’s operational efficiency in handling maritime incidents and supporting in high-angle rescue operations, etc.
On the Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme, over 2 500 applications were received under the Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme launched last year by the Government in collaboration with the Urban Renewal Authority. Successful applicants were notified gradually, and would be assigned case officers in phases, who would provide appropriate assistance and follow-up. We hope that this subsidy scheme, together with a series of improvised measures actively promoted by the FSD, could assist owners of old composite buildings to carry out improvement works as early as practicable in order to comply with the enhanced fire safety requirements under the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance.
On custody and rehabilitation, the Correctional Services Department (CSD) is committed to improving correctional facilities, including installing the electric locks systems in Stanley Prison, Tai Lam Centre for Women and Pik Uk Correctional Institution, and replacing and enhancing the closed-circuit television systems in 11 correctional facilities, including Stanley Prison, Pik Uk Prison and Hei Ling Chau Correctional Institution.
The CSD will develop the smart prison concept proactively for the sustainable development of the correctional system, using innovation and technology (including piloting the Health Signs Monitoring System, the Video Analytic Monitoring System and the Passage Surveillance System) to further modernise correctional facilities, with a view to enhancing the efficiency of prison management and level of security.
The CSD will continue to provide diversified and market-oriented vocational training to persons in custody, having regard to the overall situation and demand of the employment market, with a view to enhancing their opportunities to find employment after release, thereby facilitating their re-integration into society.
Chairman, the representatives from departments and I are pleased to answer questions from Members.
Thank you, Chairman. read more
The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, today (April 11, US West Coast time) conducted the last day of his US visit itinerary in San Francisco.
He met with representatives of innovation and technology (I&T) enterprises as well as a related organisation to explore how to spur Hong Kong’s economic development through further promoting I&T.
Starting the day, Mr Chan met with Google representatives and discussed the ways to promote artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, smart city initiatives and their research and development (R&D). He shared the view that in addition to hardware, talents is the key to I&T development. Given the keen global competition for technology talents, he said that the Hong Kong SAR Government spares no effort in building a thriving I&T ecosystem, enriching the I&T talent pool and contributing to the development of an international I&T hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
He added that the Hong Kong SAR Government rolled out the Technology Talent Admission Scheme to expedite the admission of such talents to participate in R&D in Hong Kong. Participating enterprises are required to provide employment opportunities to and nurture local I&T talents by employing local employees and interns concurrently while bringing talents into the city. Besides, a talent list setting out the professions needed most for Hong Kong’s economic development, including I&T experts and data scientists, is also promulgated and immigration facilitation is provided to eligible persons to attract them to come to Hong Kong.
Mr Chan also had lunch with representatives of the Bay Area Council, an organisation dedicated to promoting San Francisco Bay Area development and maintaining its competitiveness.
Mr Chan listened to their experiences, and underlined the vast opportunities in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong’s key role in the development of an international I&T hub in the Greater Bay Area.
He urged the organisation to set up a presence in Hong Kong to foster closer ties between the two bay areas.
Later, he exchanged views on I&T training with the founder and the senior management of an online learning platform. Having arranged thousands of online learning courses, it is now partnering with the Hong Kong Productivity Council in providing courses on I&T areas, such as AI, to small and medium-sized enterprises in Hong Kong.
Mr Chan also gave a brief update on Hong Kong’s latest developments to the persons-in-charge of a global American law firm, which has over 1 000 lawyers and runs business in assisting enterprises to go for listing. He gave an overview of Hong Kong’s advantage in being a preferred listing platform for emerging and innovative enterprises and said he was pleased to learn that the firm would launch an office in Hong Kong.
Before concluding his visit to the US, Mr Chan had dinner with over 100 Hong Kong people living in San Francisco to brief them on the latest developments of Hong Kong and learn about their everyday lives.
Mr Chan will leave San Francisco early tomorrow morning (April 12, US West Coast time) and return to Hong Kong in the morning on April 13.
