The number of mainland stowaways to Hong Kong and Macao rose this year, driven up by the rising demands for construction workers.

According to Guangdong frontier defense troop yesterday, a number of mainland women are also working as prostitutes in the two special administrative regions.

The troop also announced its garrison in Shenzhen had arrested seven members of a human trafficking gang, smuggling young women into Hong Kong by sampan since April.

The well-organized gang were caught "flagrante delicto" ferrying two women to Hong Kong from Shekou. The women were also arrested.

After interrogation, gang members confessed a total of nine people had snuck illegally into Hong Kong during eight trips.

The number of stowaways to Hong Kong and Macao from the mainland had dropped dramatically of late with over 30,000 people from Hong Kong and 4,000 from Macao were repatriated to the mainland in 1998. That figure fell by 92.3 percent and 89 percent, respectively, to 2,375 and 501 last year.

However, the troop said the number of illegal immigrants had risen slightly again in the first few months of this year, without releasing detailed figures.

Besides the troop's continuous efforts in tracking down illegal smuggling activities, the narrowing gap between living standards in the SARs and mainland cities is a further reason behind the falling number, said troop leaders.

However, factors including the weather, and seasonal demands for illegal mainland labor in Hong Kong and Macao will cause short-term variations, they noted.

(China Daily September 21, 2006)