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Service for new immigrants
Following is a question by the Hon Allen Lee Peng-fei and a written reply by the acting Secretary for Home Affairs, Mrs Stella Hung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
The findings of a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Psychological Association indicate that the people in the territory generally adopt a discriminatory attitude towards new immigrants from mainland China. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council -
(a)
(b)
(c)
of the activities carried out by the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education and the Equal Opportunities Commission in eliminating the discriminatory attitude of the territory's people towards new immigrants;
how does the Government assess the effectiveness of the activities mentioned in the answer to (a) above; and;
given that the findings of the above survey also indicate that many people in the territory are of the view that their share of the social welfare benefits has diminished as a result of the arrival of new immigrants, of the respective percentages of the resources allocated by the Social Welfare Department and the Labour Department for providing services to new immigrants out of the total expenditures of these two departments?
Reply:
Mr President,
The Government is committed to providing advice and support to new immigrants from China to enable them to settle successfully in Hong Kong and contribute to our long-term economic and social success. By facilitating their integration into the community, such efforts go a long way in addressing any discriminatory attitude which may exist towards the new arrivals.
My reply to the question is as follows: