$2600027
C.S. 20A (Rev.)
CONFIDENTIAL
SAVING DESPATCH
From the Governor, Hong Kong
To
etary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Repeat to:-
TAST
Repeated to:-
Date..
24th May 1971.
@
My Reference..
CR 42/2091/70
L
Your Reference ..
|||
No.
406
No.
No.
Now
14,
16
now
17
Hong Kong Immigration and Deportation Bill
Please refer to correspondence ending with the letter from Wilford to Roberts dated 18th February commenting on various clauses of the above Bill.
2.
With regard to clause 15 of the Bill, it is our under- standing that the United Kingdom Immigration Bill 1971 empowers an immigration officer to order the removal of a person, who is refused permission to land, within two months and the Home Secretary after two months. To bring the Bill into line with the United Kingdom Bill, clause 5 has been amended so as to empower an immigration officer to remove a person within two months of his being refused permission to land, and clause 16 has been amended so as to empower the Governor to remove such a person after the expiry of the two month period.
3.
As to clause 16 of the Bill, the Governor already has power to order the expulsion of an illegal immigrant at any time, regardless of when the illegal entry took place. In the circumstances ✓ of Hong Kong it is essential to retain this power, which is exercised in accordance with the policy approved by the Governor in Council. In practice, many illegal immigrants are allowed to remain after full consideration of all the circumstances of the case, including the length of undetected stay.
4.
On reconsideration, I agree, however, that the power for the Governor to order the removal of any immigrant within 5 years of his last arrival, on the ground that he is an undesirable person, overlaps unnecessarily with the power to be conferred on the Governor in Council by clause 17 to deport any immigrant if he deems it conducive to the public.good. The purpose of clause 16(2)(b) is to enable the Governor to remove summarily relative newcomers to Hong Kong who come to notice as undesirables only after arrival. It is an alternative to the power conferred by the United Kingdom Bill to curtail the permitted stay of a "non-patrial", and is necessary because it is not the practice in Hong Kong to put on limited stay all those whose stay it might be necessary to curtail, for example, United Kingdom belongers. Clause 16 has been amended to empower the Governor to order the removal of an immigrant who has been ordinarily resident for less than 3 years and it is hoped that this reduction substantially meets the objection raised. It does appear as if there is no right of appeal against a deportation order made by the Home Secretary on RECEVED IN the ground that this is conducive to the public good and our Bill has REGISTRY No. 5 the same effect.
- Z JUN 1971
AKICA8/10
CONFIDENTIAL
../