Hong Kong gov’t says parents seek right of abode for 78 mainland-born ‘overage children’ as sit-in continues
Hong Kong Free Press
Elderly Hong Kong parents have so far sought right of abode in the city for 78 of their mainland-born “overage children,” the government said, as a group continued a 25-day sit-in outside government headquarters to press for the family reunions.
The group, led by veteran human rights activist Father Franco Mella, urged authorities for “humanitarian considerations” to resolve the longstanding issue which separated some elderly residents from their mainland-born children – many of whom are already adults.
They began the demonstration last Friday, with the 25-day duration marking the 25 years since Hongkongers’ mainland-born children were barred from living in the city.
“Our parents are ageing day by day, waiting in agony, and yet not seeing their children by their side,” Mella, a Roman Catholic priest, said in Cantonese ahead of the sit-in.
In an emailed reply to HKFP on Wednesday, the government said it had received 47 requests seeking right of abode for a total of 78 “overage children” born in China to Hong Kong parents.
It said 24 individuals had been granted a “one-way permit” at the discretion of mainland authorities. It said the issuance of the permit – which allows mainland residents to legally reside in Hong Kong – was the jurisdictions of China’s immigration department.
The Immigration Department and the Security Bureau said they would continue to meet with abode seekers’ representatives and refer their situation to mainland authorities.
Mella told HKFP on Wednesday that the group was “in good spirit.” A representative from the Security Bureau had visited their campsite outside the government complex, but a date for a formal meeting with the authorities had yet to be fixed, the activist priest said.
Paul Chu, a 73-year-old who has been part of the campaign since 2008, told HKFP that the group expected a meeting to be held between the end of January and February, as a similar meeting was held last year in the same period.
But Chu, a retired Tai Chi instructor, said time had taken a mental toll on many of the group’s elderly members.
“After so many years, [some of them] were mentally down, some were a little disheartened,” Chu said. Several of his fellow campaigners had died before their children were allowed to move to the city.
Overage
In 1999, Beijing interpreted the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – for the first time, overturning an earlier decision by the Court of Final Appeal which ruled that Hongkongers’ mainland-born children were entitled to live in the city.
Beijing’s decision, made at the request of the Hong Kong government, instead ruled that only those whose parents had become permanent residents of Hong Kong at the time of their birth should have the right of abode.
In 2011, mainland authorities announced that “overage children” would be allowed to apply for a one-way permit. Previously, only those who were under the age of 14 by 2001 were allowed to do so.
But the campaign group said authorities did not keep their promise and an estimated 60,000 “overage children” were still awaiting approval to move to Hong Kong and reunite with their parents.
Chan Siu-chi, 86, told HKFP last Friday that she had been applying for a one-way permit for her two daughters since 1999. Both live in the Chinese city of Shanwei and are in their 40s.
“I began when I was in my 60s,” she said. “Every year I came [to the protest], and went to the meetings with the Immigration Department… I can barely walk anymore.”
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