Number of prosecutions against persons who were arrested for immigration offences
Dear Immigration Department,
I am writing to make a data access request regarding the number of prosecutions against persons who were arrested for immigration offences as mentioned in page 641 of this document: https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr19-20/english...
May I know, for each of the years between 2010 – 2020,
A) The number of arrests involving overstaying, illegal entry, unlawful employment and other immigration offences per category
B) The total number of prosecutions (successful and unsuccessful and other) instituted by the Immigration Department against overstayers, illegal immigrants, illegal workers and other immigration offenders
C) The number of successful prosecutions (i.e., prosecutions resulting in guilty pleas or convictions at trial) instituted by the Immigration Department (ImmD) against overstayers, illegal immigrants, illegal workers and other immigration offenders
(i) Of C), the number of successful prosecutions that resulted in a guilty plea
(ii) Of C), the number of successful prosecutions that resulted from a conviction at trial
If a CSV or Excel format is possible, I would greatly appreciate it.
Yours faithfully,
Surabhi Chopra
Our Reference: ImmD RM/6-5/10/2021/628(R)
Dear Ms CHOPRA,
Re: Freedom of Information request - Number of prosecutions against
persons who were arrested for immigration offences
We refer to your application for access to information of 20 October
2021. Your application is now under processing. According to paragraph
1.16 of the Code on Access to Information, our department will inform you
of the latest progress of the enquiry on or before 9 November 2021. In
the meantime, please contact the undersigned via this email if you have
any enquiry.
Best Regards,
YEUNG Wing-hei
for Director of Immigration
To learn more about the application requirements and procedures of the
most frequently used services provided by the Hong Kong Immigration
Department, you are welcome to visit the Easy Access Playlist at Hong Kong
Immigration Department [1]YouTube Channel. The concerned video clips have
Cantonese voice-over supplemented by Chinese or English subtitles.
Our Reference: ImmD RM/6-5/10/2021/628(R)
Dear Ms CHOPRA,
Re: Freedom of Information request - Number of prosecutions against
persons who were arrested for immigration offences
I refer to your request of 20 October 2021. Further to our interim reply
of 26 October 2021, please find herewith the relevant information:
A)
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |Number of arrests* |
|Year |------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |Overstayers^|Illegal |Illegal workers#|Other immigration|
| | |immigrants|(excluding sex workers) |offenders |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2010 |4 908 |3 092 |1 912 |5 744 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2011 |3 818 |2 178 |1 682 |5 231 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2012 |3 599 |2 042 |2 230 |4 782 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2013 |3 209 |2 170 |2 223 |5 073 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2014 |3 239 |2 720 |1 967 |5 242 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2015 |3 145 |4 602 |2 173 |5 481 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2016 |2 741 |2 686 |1 910 |5 149 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2017 |3 041 |1 615 |1 736 |5 166 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2018 |3 118 |1 194 |1 783 |5 462 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2019 |2 919 |1 143 |1 688 |4 849 |
|-----+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------|
|2020@|2 860 |1 949 |825 |1 283 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
* The above figures include arrested persons who were involved in
more than one offence.
^ Those allowed to leave Hong Kong with the extension of stay
formalities completed are excluded.
# Including illegal immigrants, visitors, foreign domestic helpers
and other non-permanent residents of Hong Kong.
@ Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the number
of visitors to Hong Kong in 2020 declined substantially as compared with
that in 2019, which may have led to the drop in the statistical figures on
overstaying, unlawful employment and other immigration offences as
compared with previous years.
B)
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Year | No. of Prosecution |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2010 | 8338 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2011 | 7084 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2012 | 6790 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2013 | 5532 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2014 | 4220 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2015 | 4661 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2016 | 5564 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2017 | 5761 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2018 | 6059 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2019 | 5408 |
|-------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| 2020 | 4401 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
C)
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Year | No. of conviction* |
|-------------------------------+-------------------------------|
| 2017 | 5144 |
|-------------------------------+-------------------------------|
| 2018 | 5341 |
|-------------------------------+-------------------------------|
| 2019 | 5136 |
|-------------------------------+-------------------------------|
| 2020 | 4059 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
* Please be informed that this Department does not maintain the relevant
statistics of 2010 – 2016 and further breakdown by pleas taken.
I hope the above information is useful for you.
Best regards,
YEUNG Wing-hei (Ms)
for Director of Immigration
To learn more about the application requirements and procedures of the
most frequently used services provided by the Hong Kong Immigration
Department, you are welcome to visit the Easy Access Playlist at Hong Kong
Immigration Department [1]YouTube Channel. The concerned video clips have
Cantonese voice-over supplemented by Chinese or English subtitles.
Dear Immigration Department,
Thank you very much for the information provided.
I note that you mentioned that the Immigration Department does not maintain the relevant statistics on convictions in 2010 – 2016 and further breakdown by pleas taken.
May I know which department might hold the relevant information?
Thank you for your help with this matter.
Yours faithfully,
Surabhi Chopra
Our ref. : IL/00131954/22 & ImmD RM/6-5/10/2022/128(R)
Dear Ms CHOPRA,
Re: Freedom of Information request - Number of prosecutions against
persons who were arrested for immigration offences
I refer to your follow up enquiry of 10 March 2022.
Please be informed that we do not have information as to which department
might hold the relevant information, nor did we discover the same from the
published information of other relevant government departments (such as
the Judiciary).
Best Regards,
YEUNG Wing-hei (Ms)
for Director of Immigration
To learn more about the application requirements and procedures of the
most frequently used services provided by the Hong Kong Immigration
Department, you are welcome to visit the Easy Access Playlist at Hong Kong
Immigration Department [1]YouTube Channel. The concerned video clips have
Cantonese voice-over supplemented by Chinese or English subtitles.
