A mainland illegal immigrant who used Hong Kong as a transit point to Amsterdam said the journey had cost him 100,000 yuan (HK$94,300) but had been worth it as he had now repaid his debts to snakeheads.
The migrant, who refused to reveal his identity, said he flew to the Netherlands on a plane via Hong Kong in 1995. The snakehead provided him with a forged passport, a fake name and a guide who spoke various languages to handle immigration officers.
Speaking on an RTHK radio programme from Amsterdam's Chinatown, he said: 'I spent my first three years paying off my debts, as I borrowed the money from friends and loansharks to pay the fee.'
The man, 30, who is now working as a chef, said life was tough at the start but now that he had adapted to his new life, he did not want to go back.
'I think life in Holland certainly is better than China, and the salary is higher here.' He said he made about 3,600 yuan a month when he started working as a dish washer at a restaurant, compared with only a few hundred when he was a carpenter in Fujian. 'My salary goes up as I pick up cooking skills here,' he said.
Thirty-eight illegal immigrants using Hong Kong as a transit point were found in US-bound containers at a terminal in Kwai Chung last year. But the Security Bureau has denied Hong Kong is a major transit point for human smuggling from the mainland.
