Combating "bogus refugees (2016/11/30)

Deputy President, I thank Mr Holden CHOW for proposing this motion. It offers Members an opportunity to thoroughly discuss the series of problems associated with "bogus refugees".

It is evident to all that the increasingly serious problem of "bogus refugees" in Hong Kong has been perplexing Hong Kong people over recent years. Statistics show that as at October, the number of refugees with non-refoulement claims in Hong Kong was over 10 000, more than 99% of whom were "bogus refugees". However, one thing of even greater concern is the high proportion of crimes involving "bogus refugees" in our crime rate. In 2015, for example, the overall crime rate in Hong Kong was around 900 cases per 100 000 people (or about 0.9%). But during the same period, there were about 11 000 "bogus refugees", and they already constituted over 1 100 cases (the rate was about10%). The reality shows that the crime rate involving "bogus refugees" far exceeded the overall crime rate of Hong Kong. In the first 10 months of this year, the number of various criminal cases involving "bogus refugees" already reached 1 200 and went beyond the total number last year. This shows that the situation is further worsening. It can be said that resolving the "bogus refugee" problem is an urgent task which brooks no delay.

Deputy President, crimes involving "bogus refugees" have taken place in various districts of Hong Kong, directly affecting people's daily life and causing panic. The sight of ethnic-South Asian people wandering on the streets is acause of concern to people. For example, the instance where an ethnic-South Asian robber injured and robbed the "Sleeping Granny" of $10,000 in the broad street of Mong Kok has turned into the talk of the town. Such instances will cause unfairness to those home-groomed ethnic-South Asian people.

The "bogus refugee" problem has adverse impact not only on the law and order of Hong Kong but also on its external image. Over the past three months,"bogus refugees" have committed at least six cases in Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui. Besides, in mid-August, the Police raided a drug trafficking syndicate in Lan Kwai Fong, Central, and arrested 20 people, all of whom were"bogus refugees" of an African ethnicity. Located in the popular tourist district of Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, Chungking Mansions sees a heavy people flow during daytime and night-time alike. Lan Kwai Fong is even a well-known tourist hotspot in Hong Kong. Many tourists are attracted to these two places after arriving in Hong Kong due to their fame, so as to experience the local East-meet-West feature. Unfortunately, these two tourist hotspots have become a police investigation target due to the "bogus refugee" problem. Such law-and-order problems have somehow produced adverse impact on Hong Kong's international image and the effectiveness of our tourism promotion.

Apart from causing law-and-order concerns, crimes involving "bogus refugees" also include illegal employment. While the situation is worsening, the number of districts involved is also on the rise. Therefore, I agree with an earlier remark of Secretary LEE, the remark that an urgent task at stake is to step up police patrol at crime black spots involving "bogus refugees", gather intelligence on related criminal syndicates, proactively undertake arrest operations and institute prosecution, so as to deter and restrain "bogus refugees"and related criminal syndicates.

Deputy President, the authorities are now preparing to adjust certain immigration policies as a means of resolving the "bogus refugee" problem, such as requiring Indian visitors planning a trip to Hong Kong to conduct pre-arrival registration through an online system before setting off. To my understanding, the authorities' intention is to ensure that Indian visitors are given confirmations before visiting Hong Kong, lest they may be denied entry upon arrival. This measure is obviously targeted at high-risk visitors. But in order to avoid the misunderstanding that Hong Kong does not welcome Indian visitors, I hope that before implementing the measure, the Security Bureau shall clearly explain its rationale to the Indian Government, and also to Indian organizations in India and Hong Kong, lest misunderstanding may arise, and the desire of normal Indian tourists to visit Hong Kong may be affected. At the same time, the Immigration Department should provide an appeal channel and guidelines to those Indian visitors who are denied entry to Hong Kong, so that they may lodge an appeal under a proper procedure.

Deputy President, a Member's amendment proposes to re-establish a confinement camp. I agree with this proposal. According to government information, over half of the "bogus refugees" put forth non-refoulement claims only three months after their arrival in Hong Kong. Besides, they also advance various pretexts in an attempt to delay the matter, thus prolonging the entire vetting and approval process and leading to persistent increases in theGovernment's expenses. Under statutory requirements, a claimant should lodge his claim within one month after arrival. In order to prevent claimants from delaying the matter by putting forth various pretexts and affecting the processing time and procedure, the authorities should arrange for their immediate detention in a confinement camp until the completion of the claim process. This can also enable the vetting and approval process to commence immediately and smoothly. At the same time, I also agree that the Government should expeditiously allocate funding to increase resources for employing more lawyers and translators to assist claimants in proceeding with the application procedure in time and completing the vetting and approval process.

At present, refugees mainly from five countries have lodged the greatest number of claims, and they account for 80% of the total number of refugees.These five countries basically are not plagued by wars, and some of these countries have even recorded upward economic development. Based on my conjecture, their nationals have been misled by the rumours circulating in their countries. Therefore, I think the authorities can consider the idea of conducting publicity in these five countries where appropriate, so as to dispel the rumours and enable those intending to come to Hong Kong to know that they cannot possibly obtain the right of abode in Hong Kong or engage in paid employment after arrival. Committing publicity resources at source can reduce the pressure on Hong Kong resulting from inbound refugees. I think it is worth while to commit such expenses.

With these remarks, Deputy President, I support the original motion.