By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-07 10:26:35 | Updated at 2025-01-08 11:37:33
1 day ago
Hong Kong immigration authorities have arrested 26 suspected illegal workers hired to renovate premises in the city and their three alleged employers, with the labourers earning wages as little as 10 per cent of those paid to local residents.
The Immigration Department said that officers had raided 88 locations, including flats and other premises, under renovation across the city, as part of an operation that ran from last week until Tuesday.
The 26 labourers, aged 20 to 57, comprised 25 mainland Chinese men holding visitor status and an Indonesian man with a recognisance form, a temporary stay pass, without any right to work in the city.
Officers arrested the men as they carried out renovation works, with authorities confiscating various tools such as electric drills and measuring tapes.
The department said there was no evidence to suggest the 26 men were working under any organisations.
Siu Ka-fai, deputy commander of the department’s task force, said illegal workers could be hoping to make some fast money by capitalising on the coming Lunar New Year, when residents typically hire renovation workers or cleaners to fix up their homes.
The daily wages of the 26 men were about HK$100 to HK$600 (US$12.86 to US$77.16), he said.
