New Immigrations Situations -- Right of Abode Issue

The Lawsuits

According to the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Basic Law, there isnew definition of permanent residency in Hong Kong after July 1st 1997. However, instead of verifying the persons' status and recognized their rightof abode, on 10 July 1997, the SAR Government passed the Immigration (No. 3)Ordinance to deport 1,500 children who have right of abode in Hong Kong and,most of whose both parents have resided in the territory back to China.

The new legislation adds restrictions for these children who are born in China to obtain the so-called "Certificate of Entitlement"(COE) prior to entering Hong Kong. Such certificate would be attached in theOne-way Permit (Footnotes #1) by which it is issued. However, the One-wayPermit system is commonly criticised as corruptive, unfair andinefficient.

This issue has been the subject of legal proceedings. The first ruling on October 9, 1997 of the four test cases is much critiqued as ajudgment to fit the amended immigration law. Recently the fight is carrying onin the Court of Appeal.

Another group of Chinese born children who were born before one of theirparents obtained permanent residency in Hong Kong also joint the abode fight bymeans of legal proceedings. The ruling on January 26, 1998 has confirmed theirright of abode status in Hong Kong but soon afterwards the government had vowedto challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeal.

The amendment of the Immigration Ordinance was heavily criticised asdiscriminating against children born in China, undermining the "OneCountry, Two System" motto as well as a contempt for the rule of law.

Double Standards of SAR Government

In early November, the SAR Government granted an unconditional stay statusto four child illegal immigrants in exchange for their drop of legal challenge.As these children had filed their writ prior to the passage of the Immigration(No. 3) Ordinance, the retrospective effect of the law might not be able toinclude cases which have started legal procedures. HO Hei Wah, director of theSociety for Community Organization who is helping thousands of mainland childrenfight for the abode right accused the Government of using double standards indealing with the issue.

Excessive Discretionary Power of Director of ImmigrationThe daughter of Faye Wong, a famous singer in Hong Kong, was born in themainland and was allowed to come to Hong Kong in just ten months after herapplication had been filed. She was given an "entry permit" by theHong Kong Immigration Department so that she could exempt from the long queue ofthe One-way Permit system. Also, she did not need to follow the requirement ofthe Immigration (No. 3) Ordinance that such a child must obtain COE beforeentering Hong Kong. This policy was heavily critiqued as a discriminationagainst those mainland born children, whose fathers, but not mothers, arepermanent residents of Hong Kong. The basis of drawing such a distinction isunreasonable and discriminative.

Footnotes:

1. One way Permit is system is an emigration policy administered by themainland authorities. It governs the migration of Chinese citizens to HongKong, whether or not they have the abode right in Hong Kong.