HONG KONG: The Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, attended the third meeting in Shenzhen today with the Border Control Department of the Ministry of Public Security and law enforcement agencies of Guangxi and Guangdong on combating the smuggling of illegal immigrants. At the meeting, both parties agreed to continue to combat the smuggling of illegal immigrants across the boundary.
The meeting was chaired by Mr Lai and the Director General of the Border Control Department of the Ministry of Public Security, Mr Chen Dingwu. Participants at the meeting reviewed initial results of the joint operations in the past few months against the smuggling of non-ethnic Chinese illegal immigrants (NECIIs) into Hong Kong and discussed the strategies to be deployed in the coming phase.
Both parties agreed to strengthen joint operations against the smuggling of illegal immigrants across the Hong Kong-Guangdong boundary, strengthen interception at source, investigation, intelligence exchange and law enforcement co-operation, with a view to cracking down on human smuggling syndicates.
Mr Lai thanked the Ministry of Public Security for its support and the mounting of special operations in combating NECIIs, jointly conducted by various border control departments of the Mainland law enforcement agencies. Mr Lai said that since the special operations against illegal immigrants entering Hong Kong from the Mainland commenced in mid-February this year, Mainland law enforcement agencies in various provinces have arrested about 10 000 non-ethnic Chinese for illegal immigration, illegal working and illegal remaining and thousands of them had attempted to be smuggled into Hong Kong via the Mainland, while the number of NECIIs intercepted in Hong Kong has dropped. For example, the number of NECIIs intercepted in the first three weeks of June was 113, which was 60 per cent less than the figure in January, reflecting that the above actions have yielded initial results.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government also noted that syndicates have begun to change tactics, including changes of smuggling routes and modes of operation.
As such, the HKSAR Government and Mainland law enforcement agencies need to continue to work closely together, with a view to cracking down on the smuggling of illegal immigrants and illegal activities organised by the syndicates.
Mr Lai also briefed the Ministry of Public Security and Mainland law enforcement agencies on the latest situation of the enforcement operations against illegal immigrants in Hong Kong. Since the vast majority of illegal immigrants entering Hong Kong are under the illicit arrangement of syndicates, the HKSAR Government introduced the Immigration (Unauthorized Entrants) (Amendment) Order 2016 on May 20, increasing the penalties for arranging or assisting in the smuggling of NECIIs from eight major source countries, including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, into Hong Kong, up to a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $5 million.
Mr Lai stressed that continued co-operation with the Mainland law enforcement agencies in combating human smuggling activities by sea and land plays an important part of the comprehensive review of the strategy of handling non-refoulement claims. The HKSAR Government is now addressing the matter from all angles, including implementation of pre-arrival control in regard to certain countries, preparing legislative amendments to tighten up screening procedures, and continuing to combat illegal employment and expediting the removal procedures.
