MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): President, in the second last paragraph, the Government said that in the past three years, over 20 000 to 30 000 visitor arrivals were refused entry, and the reasons included being improperly documented and holding a forged travel document. May I ask the Government of the actions it will take to combat the use of forged documents, such as initiating persecution or informing the countries concerned? How will the authorities prevent the use of forged travel documents for entering Hong Kong?
SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): One of the purposes of arrival examination is to ensure that visitors are holding valid and authentic travel documents. In the course of the examination, if anyone is found using improperly obtained or forged documents, we will conduct a secondary examination to confirm whether the person concerned has violated the relevant requirements under the Immigration Ordinance. If we have doubts and have obtained sufficient evidence, we will consider initiating persecution. In fact, any person being persecuted and convicted will be liable to the general sentence of imprisonment of likely over one year.
If suspected forged documents are found, we will contact the issuing authority to confirm the authenticity of the documents concerned. If the documents found are obtained illegally or unlawfully, we will initiate persecution and apply to the Court for confiscation of the documents. If Members are interested, I may arrange for Members to visit the exhibition hall of the ImmD where various types of travel documents with illegal alterations are displayed.
These acts will directly affect the immigration control of Hong Kong and will directly affect the convenient arrivals of visitors from various places. In fact, the ImmD of Hong Kong is not the only authority that attaches great importance to these acts, for all immigration authorities around the world do the same. Moreover, we maintain extremely close contact with these authorities to exchange information with them. If we notice any one trying to route through Hong Kong to other places without entering Hong Kong with documents which may be improper, we will inform the next destination and let the immigration authorities of the next destination conduct detailed examination on the visitor concerned to prevent persons holding unlawful travel documents to travel around the world.