China wants to thwart the mass migration of Hong Kong residents

Hong Kong

Little free life remains in Hong Kong. Many city residents are aware of this, especially since the arrival of the controversial security law. China pushed this until last June to end the limited democratic freedoms of Hong Kong, a former British colony. Consequently, mass protests against the growing influence of the Chinese government led to a mass exodus of Hong Kong residents towards the United Kingdom, Canada and neighboring Taiwan. They have relaxed their immigration laws for Hong Kong residents.
But China will not let this happen this way, according to a new immigration bill. This is to prevent Hong Kong residents from fleeing the city. In addition, the immigration director will be given the authority to stop the departure of migrants without first involving the court.
Lawyers are very concerned and sound the alarm. The Hong Kong Bar Association, an influential body for lawyers in Hong Kong, wrote in a document: “ It should be for the judiciary, not the immigration director, to decide when to impose the travel ban and whether it is justified. ” Hong Kong Legislative Council. It describes it as “particularly worrying because the grounds on which such interfering power can be exercised have not been clarified in the proposed legislation.” Such as “There is no explanation as to why this power is necessary or how it is intended to be used.”

Open your arms

When this law goes into effect, the question is whether the plans of hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents who want to immigrate to the UK in the coming months can continue. They are also referred to as “the British expatriate”, whom the United Kingdom wishes to welcome with open arms. These are Hong Kong residents who were born before 1997, when the British returned the city to China, and who were allowed to apply for a BNO passport on this basis. This allows them to settle and work in Great Britain temporarily, after which they can apply for permanent residency, and thus become full citizens. Although at least three million Hong Kong residents can benefit from this scheme, Prime Minister Boris Johnson predicts that about three hundred thousand people choose to emigrate.
Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Legian described the measure as “a flagrant violation of China’s sovereignty.” He believes that the UK is “getting unfairly involved in internal affairs”. So the government says it no longer recognizes BNO passports.

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Arrests

Although the pro-democracy movement has grown in Hong Kong, the city is under increasing pressure from China. Since the introduction of the new security law in June, groups of activists and politicians have fled abroad. People who had participated in the anti-government protests, including media mogul Jimmy Lai and prominent activist Joshua Wong, were arrested. Some face life in prison.

Megan Vasquez

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