Thank you, President. The problem of abuse of non-refoulement claims by “bogus refugees” has been troubling Hong Kong for a long time. As colleagues have said, out of some 27 700 claims, only about 1% are genuine, indicating that the proportion of genuine refugees is very small. At present, there are more than 15 000 non-refoulement claimants stranded in Hong Kong, and the expenses on allowances, judicial review and detention, etc. amount to more than $1 billion each year, leading to problems such as the burden on social resources and the hidden dangers to public security. I would like to thank Mr LAI Tung-kwok for proposing the motion today and the other Members for their amendments, which have enabled us to discuss this issue of social concern.
To address the problem of non-refoulement claims, the Government has proactively implemented various measures and achieved considerable results. In order to enhance the efficiency of removals, the removal policy was updated in 2022 to allow the Immigration Department (“ImmD”) to carry out removal operations after a claimant’s judicial review case has been rejected by the Court of First Instance of the High Court. In addition, ImmD has implemented the Advance Passenger Information (“API”) System since September last year, requiring airlines to provide passenger information to ImmD to intercept unwelcome persons, including “bogus refugees”. As at February this year, 82 airlines have been connected to the API System, and the system has successfully identified and denied boarding to ineligible persons, including those who had made claims for non-refoulement in Hong Kong but were eventually rejected and repatriated to their places of origin, thus blocking the entry of “bogus refugees” into Hong Kong at source.
Between January and November last year, ImmD received 2646 non-refoulement claims, of which 790 were made by illegal immigrants. Once a claimant’s non-refoulement claim is determined to be unsubstantiated, he will try every means to file a judicial review to extend his stay in Hong Kong, resulting in a backlog of 8 400 cases. It is suggested that the Government should allocate more resources to increase the Judiciary’s manpower for handling claim cases, and streamline procedures to expedite the processing of backlogs throughout the years, or simply set up a new special tribunal to deal with this type of cases. On the other hand, a task force should be set up, bringing together the resources of ImmD, the Police Force and the Judiciary, and coordinated by the Security Bureau, in order to improve data sharing among various departments and set key performance indicators to speed up the processing of cases.
Verifying the identity of those awaiting repatriation is also a major challenge. At present, some 3 500 persons are being arranged for removal from Hong Kong, of whom 2 600 are awaiting confirmation by their countries of origin of their eligibility for return. Some repatriates have refused to surrender their identity documents and some countries of origin lack biotechnology databases, making it difficult to verify the identity of claimants. In order to strengthen regional cooperation, it is recommended that agreements be signed at the diplomatic level with major source countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan to simplify the identity verification process and to provide technical support to expedite the repatriation process if necessary. In addition, it is also necessary to strengthen interception at source, combat human trafficking, and increase penalties for employers hiring illegal workers, so as to reduce the incentives for “bogus refugees” to come to Hong Kong to make money.
On the other hand, as of November 2024, there are still about 1 900 claimants stranded in Hong Kong because they are in prison, on remand, or awaiting prosecution or investigation, but the existing detention facilities are inadequate, resulting in many high-risk persons being released into the community. It is suggested that the number of detention facilities should be appropriately increased and that priority should be given to high-risk claimants, such as those with serious criminal records who are at risk of absconding or committing repeat offences, in order to prevent high-risk persons from entering the community and to curb the influx of “bogus refugees” through demonstration. In addition, the Government should convey the message that it is cracking down on illegal immigrants and illegal workers, to weaken their financial incentives to come to Hong Kong. It is hoped that the Government can enhance the efficiency of enforcement, optimize the system and process, and take a multi-pronged approach through judicial reform and international cooperation to stop illegal immigration at source.
Thank you, President.