POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION
396
Immigration Control
Passenger traffic continued to increase in 1995. A total of 92.1 million passengers travelled to and from Hong Kong, up 6.1 per cent from 86.8 million in 1994. Movements to and from China rose by 6.6 per cent, from 56 million in 1994 to 59.7 million. The number of visitors travelling to Hong Kong also increased, from 9.3 million in 1994 to 10.2 in 1995, up 9.3 per cent. These included 2.2 million from China and 1.8 million from Taiwan.
The Lo Wu terminal's arrival and departure halls were enlarged in January 1995, with the total number of counters increased from 88 to 160. By the end of 1995, optical character recognition readers were installed at all control points. Apart from shortening the processing time for passengers holding Hong Kong permanent identity cards, or Hong Kong identity cards bearing the symbols ***, * or R, the processing time for passengers holding machine-readable travel documents was reduced by 20 seconds.
Legal Immigration
The one-way permit quota agreed upon with the Chinese Government for legal immigration from China was increased from 105 to 150 a day from July 1, 1995. During the year, 45 986 Chinese residents came to settle in Hong Kong. Of these, 18 274 were wives, 23 033 were children and 1 572 were husbands of local residents. Of the children who arrived in 1995, 9 740 will have the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) after 1997 under Article 24(3) of the HKSAR Basic Law.
Illegal Immigration
With its steady economic growth and proximity to China, Hong Kong remains vulnerable to influxes of illegal immigrants from China. The daily average arrest figure for 1995 was 73, a decrease of 15.1 per cent compared with 86 in 1994.
Most illegal immigrants came to Hong Kong looking for work and higher wages. Frequent checks were conducted on construction sites, factories and other places of employment. Illegal immigrants found working were prosecuted before they were repatriated and their employers also were prosecuted. Most of them were fined, but in serious cases prison sentences were imposed.
Emigration
Emigration has been a constant feature of life in Hong Kong. The estimated number of persons leaving Hong Kong increased from an average of 20 000 a year in the early 1980s to 30 000 in 1987, and reached 66 000 in 1992. It is estimated about 62 000 people emigrated in 1994 and 43 100 in 1995.
Of those who emigrated in 1995, it is estimated that about 15 700 were managers, administrators, professionals and associated professionals. To ensure an adequate supply of talent in Hong Kong, the government has increased the number of graduates from Hong Kong's tertiary institutions and is facilitating the return of former migrants. There were signs that an increasing number of people who had emigrated are returning to Hong Kong. It was estimated that at least 12 per cent of persons who emigrated in the 10 years before 1994 have returned to Hong Kong.