Posted by
inkonkoni
19 yrs ago
My helper who had been with me for over a year, was stopped while exiting the country last Xmas. Some eight years previously she had used a false passport as the agency here had lost hers and talked her into using a false one so she could remain to work and pay off her debt to them. She was duely taken to court, told not to make a fuss, admitted her error, was sentenced to 6month'hs in prison. During that time I visited her and wrote to her and waited for her release. We were both shocked to discover that she was to be deported and there was nothing we could do about it because now she was considered a "criminal". She had to go back home where she is trying to avoid a forced marriage, is penniless, and her family who was depending on her income is suffering. No amount of letters to the secretary for security have helped, as the bottom line is that she is a "criminal".
In fact she is not. She made a mistake, she took bad advise. She is honest, hard working and we are good friends. She even has commendations from the governments of other countries where she worked before, for her charity work. Honestly, I can't afford a protracted legal battle. Is there anything anyone can suggest?
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If you want to split hairs about it, we're probably all criminals, that odd speeding ticket or parking ticket, dropping litter. The agency people are already in prison. The punishment has been served. Why does there have to be such huge retribution after that? It's not she actually caused any harm.
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Dozy
19 yrs ago
If any westerner (regardless of their social background or educational level) entered a developed country on a forged passport, we would surely accept being blacklisted as a reasonable consequence. Isn't it somewhat patronising to think other races should be treated more leniently than us? And if you think of HK's geographic position - the only wealthy city for 1,000 miles in any direction - it really has no choice but to be tough on passport and immigration offences.
I see from your post in the "shocking amah drama" thread that you have had a busy time since your helper left and I am sorry about that; but it is no basis for changing the criminal justice system or immigration rules.
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She was legal to work here, is was merely a piece of paper that the agency itself lost, leaving her in debt to them. So no, she was not taking someone else's job. She was not here ilegally in that she was fully allowed to be here.she corrected it later on to her own passport. I think there should be some sort of review that looks at the facts rather than the black and white ... obviously we would be upset if murderers and rapists and thieves and drug dealers were allowed to remain in Hong Kong, but someone like this most certainly deserves to remain. Like I said, she did her time without fight or fuss. That should be punishment enough. This is a woman who found an envelope of cheques (some of them uncrossed) for hundreds of thousands of dollars, on one of those green minibuses, brought it home to me and asked me to help her return it to the owner, a clothemaking company. This is the caliber of woman we're talking about.
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That's really odd because when we accepted the penalty there was no mention of "deportation" until much later. She had been here 8 years, and if the law was not racially biased, in that gweilos can become citizens after seven years but other workers cannot, then she would have been a citizen and not deported.
Also we were allowed to appeal several times, what is the point of that? Why was all this not laid out for her right in the beginning so that she could assess all her options instead of just "not trying to cause any further trouble" and swallowing what was handed out?
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of course (grin) but, you know what I mean. but I'm not going to "argue" the case with anyone. I was just hoping someone could actually help me instead of chanting the offical mantra..."it's the law" like that's all there is to it.
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I don't know. I didn't say she was intelligent, just a great helper. Why did I have to send a letter to the powers that be swearing that I would re-employ her if there was no chance of her remaining here?
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