The dark path to becoming an illegal worker in Hong Kong

If Hong Kong had to find a slogan to sum up the essence of its being, it would be hard pressed to come up with anything better than "we're open for business".

Built on trade and the largely unfettered movement of people, goods and capital, the freedom to make money is at the very heart of the city.

But the freedom to get rich always has a downside and in an increasingly shrinking globalised market where the movement of people - for either economic or political reasons - now threatens to re-shape continents, Hong Kong's streets paved with gold reputation was always bound to be attractive.

Its appeal doesn't just turn the heads of today's start-up kids and smartphone go-getters: Someone has to cook their food, build their offices and clean up after them.

That's where Sammy (not his real name) comes in. One of India's economically dispossessed, he is one of a growing number of people in Hong Kong who - with the help of lawyers and demand from businesses seeking to plug gaping holes in the city's labour market - is using the cover of a bogus claim for asylum to stay in the city and work illegally.

The 36-year-old from Punjab can earn much more here in what amounts to illegal, bonded labour than he could back home. All he had to do was answer an ad offering "asylum visas", and make a big cash payment upfront to an agency in India.

"There are limited job opportunities back home. To survive, I had to try my luck," said Sammy, who gave up his homeland to come here two years ago.