CHINA: CHINESE MIGRANTS IN HONG KONG STAGE PROTEST TO EXPRESS ANGER OVER RULING BY TERRITORY'S HIGHEST COURT WHICH FORCES THEM TO RETURN TO CHINA

Record ID: 348910

  • Title: CHINA: CHINESE MIGRANTS IN HONG KONG STAGE PROTEST TO EXPRESS ANGER OVER RULING BY TERRITORY'S HIGHEST COURT WHICH FORCES THEM TO RETURN TO CHINA
  • Date: 13th January 2002
  • Summary: (W4) HONG KONG, CHINA (JANUARY 13, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN: ABODE SEEKERS HOLDING PLACARDS 0.09 2. SCU: PLACARD READING 'PROTECT OUR RIGHTS OF ABODE' 0.13 3. CU: PLACARD READING 'DON'T YOU KNOW WE HAVE NO WAY TO APPLY' 0.19 4. VARIOUS OF ABODE SEEKERS CHANTING SLOGANS (2 SHOTS) 0.28 5. SCU: SOUNDBITE (Cantonese)
  • Embargoed: 28th January 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HONG KONG, CHINA
  • City:
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Reuters ID: LVADWLHCVI6J9NMKVXKEURXCR6R
  • Story Text: Chinese migrants in Hong Kong have staged a protest to
    express their anger over last week's ruling by the territory's
    highest court which forces them to return to China.



    Around 1,000 Chinese migrants in Hong Kong gathered on
    Sunday (January 13) to express their dismay over a ruling on
    Thursday (January 10) by the territory's highest court that
    ordered thousands to return to China and could break up
    hundreds of families.

    Protesters holding placards and chanting slogans sat
    huddled in Victoria park amidst Sunday football players.

    Cheung Cho-sang who represents the abode seekers said the
    Court of Final Appeal had already granted the right of abode
    in 1999.

    "But the government did not keep its promise, it sought a
    reinterpretation (of that ruling from Beijing) and took away
    the right of abode", he said.

    Thursday's verdict was a victory for Hong Kong and Beijing,
    who have sought for years to control and restrict the
    numbers of mainlanders settling here.

    The migrants have planned an indefinite sit-in before the
    Legislative Council building and on Monday will visit the
    Immigration Department to request a solution.

    "We mean the Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and other
    government bureaus could exercise a special power by extending
    the concession (to those currently in Hong Kong) that was
    given to them by the Chief Executive after the
    reinterpretation in June 1999," said Father Frank Mella, who
    works on behalf of the migrants.

    One man held a sign saying 'Hong Kong is our home', and a
    woman marcher's placard read 'Our right of abode is given by
    the basic law'.

    If China loosened its rules, Mella said, the Chinese migrants
    could also return to the mainland and collect the necessary
    permissions before coming back.

    He estimated about 12,000 people needed the right of abode
    in Hong Kong because their parents or families were in the
    territory.

    Only up to 300 of the 5,114 abode seekers who met certain
    conditions will be allowed to stay under the ruling, though
    the court urged the government to reconsider the cases of
    another 1,000.

    China said late on Thursday that the mainlanders must
    return as soon as possible.

    It said those who did so voluntarily before the end of
    March would not be punished for entering Hong Kong illegally
    or overstaying their visas.


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