Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Sai Kung this morning (June 5) in which a 76-year-old man died.

     At about 6.20am, a private car driven by a 26-year-old man was travelling along Wai Man Road towards Sai Kung direction. It reportedly knocked down the 76-year-old man who was crossing the road.

     Sustaining serious head injuries, the man was rushed to Tseung Kwan O Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 7.49am.

     The driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing death. He has been released on bail pending further enquiries and is required to report back to Police in mid-July.

     Investigation by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, Kowloon East is underway.

     Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers on 2305 7500 or 2305 7571.
     
 

     The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted territory-wide anti-illegal worker operations codenamed "Twilight" and "Contribute" from June 1 to yesterday (June 4). A total of 18 suspected illegal workers and 11 suspected employers were arrested.
 
     During the operations, ImmD Task Force officers raided 37 target locations including a commercial building, farms, a food factory, a garbage collection depot, hotels, massage parlours, premises under renovation, restaurants, a salon, a shopping mall, warehouses and a wet market. The suspected illegal workers comprised seven men and 11 women, aged 24 to 66. Among them, four men and a woman were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit them from taking any employment. In addition, two men and three women were suspected of using and being in possession of forged Hong Kong identity cards or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Meanwhile, six men and five women, aged 25 to 67, were suspected of employing the suspected 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. It is an offence to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years' imprisonment.
 
     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 the 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 screenings 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 threats 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 intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments. 

     Three illegal workers comprising two Indians and one Bangladeshi were jailed by Shatin Magistrates' Courts yesterday (June 4).

      During operation "Twilight" conducted on June 2, Immigration Department (ImmD) investigators raided a wet market in Lam Tin and a restaurant in Central. Two male Indian illegal workers and one female Bangladeshi illegal worker, aged from 35 to 50, were arrested while working as garbage cleaning workers and a dish washing worker. Upon identity checking, they produced for inspection recognisance forms issued by the ImmD, which prohibit them from taking employment. Further investigation revealed that they were non-refoulement claimants. An employer suspected of employing the illegal workers was also arrested and investigation is ongoing.

     The three illegal workers were charged at Shatin Magistrates' Courts yesterday with taking employment after landing in Hong Kong unlawfully and remaining in Hong Kong without the authority of the Director of Immigration or while being a person in respect of whom a removal order or deportation order was in force. They pleaded guilty to the charge and were each sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment.
 
     The ImmD 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 the 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 on 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 threats 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 intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The first meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Subcommittee on Building (Minor Works) (Amendment) Regulation 2020 and Building (Planning) (Amendment) Regulation 2020 will be held at 2pm today (June 5) in Conference Room 2 of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, members of the Subcommittee will elect a Chairman.

     The Government announced today (June 5) that the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (WFSFAA) will start disbursing a one-off special allowance under the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF) to eligible Working Family Allowance (WFA) households and Student Financial Assistance (SFA) households from June 9 to support low-income households under the deteriorating economic and employment conditions as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. Applications are not required.

     This arrangement is to relax the proposal of providing time-limited cash allowance to the unemployed and the under-employed as announced by the Chief Executive in January. Compared with the original proposal, each eligible WFA and SFA household will receive a one-off special allowance, regardless of whether these low-income households are unemployed or under-employed.

     For WFA households, a household which has submitted an application (and eventually approved) from April 1, 2019, to February 21, 2020, (i.e. the day on which the AEF funding proposal was approved by the Finance Committee of Legislative Council) will receive a special allowance equivalent to two months of WFA payment based on the highest monthly amount it received in its most recently submitted and approved application during the above period. Households receiving means-tested SFA for pre-primary, primary and secondary students in the 2019/20 academic year will receive a special allowance of $4,640. For households eligible for the special allowance under both the WFA and the SFA, the amount payable will be the higher amount of the above two cases.

     The WFSFAA estimated that about 58 000 WFA households and about 145 000 SFA households would benefit from this special allowance.

     The WFSFAA will disburse the special allowance based on the existing payment methods for the WFA or the SFA. Households are not required to make separate applications. After disbursement, the WFSFAA will inform the households concerned by short message service (SMS) or letters.

     For enquiries, WFA households may call the hotline (2558 3000) or visit the website (www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/wfao) of the Working Family Allowance Office under the WFSFAA. SFA households may call the hotline (2802 2345) or visit the website (www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/sfo) of the Student Finance Office under the WFSFAA.