Their two younger sisters, aged 3 and 1, (the younger of whom
has the right to be in Hong Kong having been born there) were,
at the time of the petitions, being looked after in China by
close relatives. I am also advised that the two brothers can
approach their local Police Station in China for registration
formalities.
If the parents want these two boys to come to Hong Kong for permanent residence, they should apply to the Chinese authorities for the issue of one-way exit permits. To allow
them to stay in Hong Kong in the absence of any exceptionally strong humanitarian grounds would be very unfair to others who
are waiting patiently in the queue for one-way permits. Their situation does not come under this strictly exceptional
category.
I understand and sympathise with the parents' predicament, but
their situation had to be weighed against the damage to Hong
Kong if illegal immigration increased because the rules were not
implemented firmly and fairly. There are, sadly, other cases
like these two boys, but there are hundreds of thousands of
people who wait patiently and ultimately successfully to come to
Hong Kong.
ALASTAIR GOODLAD
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