TNAG-1723-FCO40-2436-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 52

628

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 13 January 1988

·

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: Under the arrangements that we have with the appropriate authorities in China, two-way permit holders are allowed in fo period of stay of a maximum of three months and then they must return to China. If we start making exceptions to two-way permit holders, we really will be at the top of a very slippery slope. As regards the first part of my hon. Friend's question, we have, of course, been in discussion with the Chinese authorities at our regular meetings with them on this question, and I can assure you that we have had a very sympathetic hearing.

MR. CHEONG-LEEN: Sir, the Secretary for Security said that there is no reason to suppose that these 11 mothers will experience any difficulty in obtaining one-way exit permits. Could he tell us in the normal course of events how long it will take to get such one-way exit permits and whether such period of time would be considered as reasonable or humanitarian and fair under the circumstances?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: From the information that we get from people who come to Hong Kong on one-way permits, it seems some get them in less than a year, others in two years, and most of them within three. I do not consider this to be unreasonable myself, given that we are allowing in as many as 27 000 a year and given that there are a large number of people still in China who have very close relatives in Hong Kong and are waiting to join their relatives here.

MR. DESMOND LEE: Has Government thought about making contact with China to suggest special consideration for these illegal immigrant mothers if and when they apply for one-way permits to come to Hong Kong?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: Sir, as I have said, we have been in constant talk with the appropriate authorities in China at regular meetings. I must emphasise, of course, that the issue of one-way permits is not a matter for the Hong Kong Government; it is a matter for the appropriate authorities in China; and we must not forget that these illegal immigrants are, in fact, queue-jumpers. They are people who ought to be waiting in the queue in China in order to get one-way permits.

MR. MARTIN LEE: Sir, bearing in mind that (1) these illegal immigrant mothers have surfaced with their children in the mistaken belief that they could take advantage of the recent amnesty, (2) the Government is here concerned with purely humanitarian grounds and not the strict application of policy or principle, and (3) any special permission granted to them to stay would not adversely affect the daily quota of legal immigrants on one-way exit permits, will the Administration inform this Council why it cannot grant special permission to these mothers to stay in Hong Kong with their families purely on humanitarian grounds and stricly on a one-off basis?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: Sir, with respect to my hon. Friend, I do not think that these mothers did, in fact, turn up at the Immigration Department in the