Nine Vietnamese men and four Vietnamese women have been jailed for terms ranging from 15 to 20 months after being convicted of working illegally in Hong Kong.
During an anti-illegal workers operation conducted by the immigration department on March 27, officers arrested a total of 13 Vietnamese in Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Sham Tsang in the New Territories and Quarry Bay on Hong Kong Island, according to a government release.
Officers raided food factories, restaurants, residential apartments and cleaning companies and arrested the 13 people, who are aged from 21 to 56. Two of the men and three of the women were asylum seekers, which prohibits them from doing work.
The people arrested pleaded guilty to the charges at Shatin Magistrates’ Court and Tuen Mun Magistrates’ Court and were sentenced to 15 months in jail for working illegally.
Three of the 13 – one man and two of the women – were also charged with two counts of using a forged Hong Kong identity card. They were sentenced to 15 months’ jail with parts of their sentences to run consecutively. So, they will have to serve 20 months in prison.
Another two of the men were also charged with possessing a false instrument and sentenced to 12 months’ jail for that offense. But those sentences would concurrently, meaning they face a total of 15 months’ imprisonment.