Source tells Post this could be due to syndicates trying to avoid harsher penalties under amended immigration law
CLIFFORD.LO@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Wednesday, 25 May, 2016, 6:38pm
The 25 people found on the boat were wearing life jackets, which are usually not provided by syndicates. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Asylum seekers from South Asia have been forced to sail themselves across the border into Hong Kong after mainland snakeheads refused to do so in response to new and harsher penalties against people smuggling, the Post has learned.
This surfaced after Marine police intercepted a boatload of 25 illegal immigrants from Pakistan in Hong Kong waters about 1.8km west of Hong Kong International Airport shortly before 11am on Wednesday.
The 23 men and two women, aged between 16 and 49, were found packed in an eight-metre sampan, but no mainland people smugglers, known as snakeheads, were found on board, according to police.
“Initial investigations showed they sailed into Hong Kong from the mainland on their own,” a source with knowledge of the case said. “That’s why they all donned life jackets.”
Previously, one or two mainland snakeheads worked as coxswains to smuggle illegal immigrants from South Asia into Hong Kong from the mainland by sea, and no life jackets were available.
The source believed the 25 Pakistanis were given the boat after they paid people-smuggling syndicates to fly them into Guangzhou from their hometown.
“It is possible this will become a trend as snakeheads refuse to smuggle them into Hong Kong in a move to elude arrests under the amended legislation,” another source said.
The 23 men and two women were intercepted in Hong Kong waters. Photo: SCMP Pictures
This was the first boatload of non-Chinese illegal immigrants intercepted in Hong Kong waters after the amended immigration law came into effect on Friday last week.
The previous law imposed a maximum penalty of 14 years’ jail and a HK$5 million fine for those who smuggled Vietnamese, mainland or Macau people into Hong Kong. Snakeheads smuggling people of other nationalities could face a lesser charge of aiding a person to land in Hong Kong, which carries a three-year sentence and a HK$25,000 fine.
But the amended legislation covers eight other countries, including Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The change is part of the government’s move towards curbing the growing number of asylum seekers in Hong Kong. It is understood that the authorities are also looking into imposing visa restrictions on citizens of countries considered the largest sources of illegal immigration to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has a backlog of more than 11,000 applications on asylum and torture grounds that need to be screened.
The number of non-ethnic-Chinese illegal immigrants intercepted doubled last year to 3,819, with almost 60 per cent being from Vietnam. The rest came from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.
More than 400 were arrested in January alone this year. Many of them snuck into Hong Kong by boat.
It is understood that several people-smuggling syndicates are still in operation, offering a one-stop service to bring immigrants from their home countries to the city via the mainland for up to HK$50,000 per head.
Such activities from the mainland had died down in the past two months after mainland authorities stepped up enforcement action at sea and on land.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1954045/change-tactics-snakeheads-force-25-south-asians-sail
