Abode claimants not allowed to stay
Director of Immigration Ambrose Lee
Siu-kwong said he could not exercise his discretionary power to allow all abode
claimants to stay after they lost their case in the Court of Final Appeal.
Earlier, the court rejected the appeals of more than 5,000 mainland abode
claimants. He said the government would not increase the present daily quota of
150 for one-way permits, saying the current level was already the maximum the
government could allow. On the
other hand, he said mainland authorities had pledged to allow young children who
had lost their case to return to Hong Kong within a year if they left the
territory before the 31 March deadline, provided that their parents were Hong
residents. He urged abode seekers
to take advantage of the opportunity.
Although Secretary for Security
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said there was no guarantee that the abode seekers would
be allowed to return after a certain period of time, the lawyers from Pam Baker
and Co. warned that a new wave of court cases could be launched by abode
seekers.
Immigration director Ambrose Lee
reiterated that the department would take all necessary measures to remove
overstayers without right of abode after 31 March. He said the department would review all files of right of
abode claimants to determine if there are any cases with exceptional grounds
before removal. He urged claimants
to return to the mainland by taking advantage of the grace period offered by
authorities as an incentive scheme.
The government is standing firm on
its decision not to grant an amnesty to right of abode seekers and says that
only few will be granted the discretionary right to stay.
Secretary for Security Regina Ip urged adopted mainland children under 18
to leave the territory so their cases might be processed within a year through
an express queue set up by mainland authorities.
Abode seekers protest
Hundreds (or more than 1,000) of abode seekers marched to
reiterate their determination to stay in the territory despite a court ruling
ordering them to leave; about 50 planned to shave their heads as a sign of
protest. Fu Ka-hui, spokesperson
for abode seekers, said that they would fight to the end. Father Franco Mella said the march was to end at the Court of
Final Appeal where some 50 men and women were to shave their heads.
He said the head-shaving rite was intended to show the absence of law in
SAR.
Some 4,500 mainland Chinese were
ordered to leave by 31 March. Only
about 500 were granted residency.
The Right of Abode Committee
claimed that some mainland abode seekers who lost legal bids have been detained
and beaten after they returned to China despite assurances they would not be
punished. Fu Kai-hui said customs
officers detained five people the moment they crossed into the mainland on 16
January. He said they were asked
for 5,000 Yuan (US$609) each. They
were among the more than 450 abode seekers who have returned to China in recent
weeks after receiving assurances from Hong Kong and Chinese officials that they
would not be punished for sneaking into SAR or overstaying their tourist visas.
Chinese officials in Hong Kong declined to comment on the allegations.
No increased
quota for mainlanders
A member
of chief executive Tung Chee-Hwa’s executive council said the government has
no plans of increasing the daily quota of 150 one-way permits for mainlanders
wanting to settle in SAR. He said
the government has to consider if the territory can afford to take in more
migrants, dismissing a recent call to review the system to enable more
mainlanders to join their families in Hong Kong. Earlier, Immigration director Ambrose Lee said that the
government had no plans to change the quota, although he did not rule out the
possibility of reviewing the matter in the future.
Employers “cheat" on anticipated pay cut
Cynthia
Tellez, executive director
of the Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers, revealed that some employers have
been extending the contracts of their domestic helpers for a maximum of three
months in anticipation of a wage cut. She
said since the news of a pay review broke out, her office had been contacted by
helpers whose contracts were only being renewed for three months after serving
out their initial two-year agreements. This means that employers currently paying a minimum HK$3,670
a month could then offer new two-year contracts under the reduced wage terms.
The government is expected to announce the results of the pay review on 1
February.
The Catholic Church has called on
the government not to cut the minimum wage of foreign domestic helpers, calling
it unfair and unjust. A
spokesperson of the Catholic Commission for Labor Affairs said that it is a
shame that the interest of the workers who live on low incomes is compromised.
The commission also pointed to the two-week rule, which demands domestic
helpers to leave SAR 14 days after their contracts are terminated, saying it
forces migrant workers to become “non-free labor."
It said domestic helpers had to pay up to HK$30,000 to recruitment
agencies to find another job. Father
Emilio Lim, a member of the Catholic Diocese’s ad hoc committee for the
evaluation of the pastoral ministry to foreigners, said a pay cut for domestic
helpers would be more devastating than a pay cut for civil servants.
About 135,000 Filipino domestic
helpers are Catholics. Filipinos
comprise 67 percent of the 235,000 foreign domestic helpers in SAR.
Domestic helpers lured into sex trade
United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL) chair Connie Bragas Regalado said that there are no
statistics on sex workers in Hong Kong; she said there seems to be a denial of
the problem. Although the problem
of domestic helpers drifting into the sex trade is not yet widespread, the
phenomenon could reach that point. Aside from syndicates, women are lured into
the sex trade by the easy money they can make to augment their wages as domestic
helpers.
Influx of irregular migrants
Director Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong said
the Immigration Department would step up cooperation with mainland and overseas
authorities following an increase in the number of irregular workers arrested.
A total of 7,841 irregular mainland and overseas workers were arrested
last year, up 37 percent over the previous year’s 5,715.
The number of employers arrested for recruiting irregular workers also
rose from 712 last in 2000 to 968 last year.
Among the irregular workers nabbed, 3,057 were mainland female visitors
arrested for engaging in sex trade, and another 2,210 were mainland travelers
who had taken up other kinds of unlawful employment.
The number of mainland irregular
migrants arrested last year dropped to 8,322, compared to 8,476 in 2000.
About 70 percent of the irregular migrants were from provinces other than
Guangdong, compared with 60 percent in the previous year.
Irregular migrants arriving by land dropped from 54 percent to 42 percent
last year. The number of pregnant
irregular migrants also dropped by 50.3 percent from 1,111 in 2000 to 522, while
the number of irregular migrant children dropped 1.2 percent to 789 last year.
The number of forged travel documents detected last year fell to 3,148
from 3,250 in 2000. Many of the
cases involved people in transit through SAR to seek residence overseas.
Visa waiver extended
Hong Kong and South Korea have
agreed to extend the period of the waiver of visa requirements for their
nationals from the current 30 days to 90 days.
The agreement will take effect on 1 February. The move is expected to encourage business and investment
between the two countries.
Sources: Stella Lee and Chris Yeung, “Abode judgment ‘does not permit amnesty’," South China Morning Post, 16 January 2002; Mary Ann Benitez and Sophia Chu, “Pay review prompts briefer extension of maids’ contracts," South China Morning Post, 17 January 2002; Mary Ann Benitez and Sophia Chu, “Cutting maids’ wage would be shameful, says Catholic Church," South China Morning Post, 17 January 2002; Stella Lee, “More mainland sought for illegal immigrant curbs," South China Morning Post, 22 January 2002; AFP, “Hong Kong has no plans to take in more mainlanders," 22 January 2002; “After grace period, action to be taken on overstayers," China Daily, 22 January 2002; “Korea, Hong Kong to extend visa waiver," Korea Herald, 22 January 2002; “Abode amnesty denied," HKiMail, 25 January 2002; AFP, “Chinese fighting to stay in HK to shave heads," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 29 January 2002; Japan Economic Newswire, “Over 1,000 Chinese stage protest over H.K. court ruling," 29 January 2002; Cookie Micaller, “Fast-money sex trade lures Hong Kong maids," Asia Times, 30 January 2002; Reuters, “Activists say abode seekers punished in China," 30 January 2002