Thousands flee Hong Kong in fear of China crackdown; numbers likely to rise after Britain s new visa scheme Britain s government said some 7,000 people with BN(O) passports have arrived since July on the previously allowed six-month visa and estimates that over 3,00,000 people will take up the offer of extended residency rights in the next five years The Associated Press February 01, 2021 16:58:04 IST In this photo dated 29 January 2021, Samuel Chan, Managing Director of Britannia Study, who assists Hong Kong people to move to the UK, looks out from window in his office in Hong Kong. AP
Hong Kong: Thousands of Hong Kongers have already made the sometimes painful decision to leave behind their hometown and move to Britain since Beijing imposed a strict national security law on the Chinese territory last summer. Their numbers are expected to swell to the hu
HONG KONG
Thousands of Hong Kongers have already made the sometimes-painful decision to flee the city and move to Britain since Beijing imposed a strict national security law on their hometown last summer. Their numbers are expected to swell to the hundreds of thousands.
Some are leaving because they fear punishment for supporting the pro-democracy protests that swept the former British colony in 2019. Others say mainland China’s encroachment on their way of life and civil liberties has become unbearable, and they want to seek a better future for their children abroad. Most say they don’t plan ever to go back.
Kin Cheung/AP
Thousands of people from Hong Kong are fleeing their hometown since Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the territory in the summer 2020. Applications for the British National Overseas visa officially opened Sunday, though many have already arrived on British soil to get a head start. Britain’s government said some 7,000 people with British National Overseas passports – a travel document that Hong Kongers could apply for before the city was handed over to Chinese control in 1997 – have arrived since July on the previously allowed six month visa. It estimates that over 300,000 people will take up the offer of extended residency rights in the next five years.
Thousands flee Hong Kong fearing Chinese crackdown orissapost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from orissapost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Many Hong Kongers have decided to flee to the UK after Britain announced in July that it would open a special immigration pathway for up to 5 million eligible Hong Kongers to settle in the UK