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China has reacted furiously to the visa offer.
Hong Kong, China:
A new visa scheme that offers millions of Hong Kongers a path to British citizenship will go live later Sunday, when the city’s former colonial master opens his doors to those who want to escape China’s crackdown on dissent.
Starting Sunday afternoon, anyone with a British (overseas) passport and their dependents will be able to apply online for a visa allowing them to live and work in the UK. After five years, they can apply for citizenship.
The immigration plan is a response to Beijing’s decision last year to impose a far-reaching national security law on Hong Kong to quell huge and often violent democratic protests.
Britain has accused China of breaking its promise before Hong Kong’s 1997 handover that the financial center would maintain key freedoms and autonomy for 50 years. London argued that he has a moral duty to protect his former colonial subjects.
“We have honored our deep ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have championed freedom and autonomy,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of the plan this week.
China has reacted furiously to the visa offer.
On Friday it announced that BN (O) passports would no longer be recognized as a legitimate travel or identification document.
The move was largely symbolic as Hong Kong residents tend to use their own passports or ID cards to get out of the city.
But Beijing said it was prepared to take “additional measures”, raising fears that the authorities might try to stop Hong Kong residents from leaving for Britain.
– Applications soar –
It’s unclear how many Hong Kongers will accept the offer, especially as the coronavirus restricts global flights and hits much of the world, including Britain, in a painful economic malaise.
But a BN (O) passport is available to a large number of people, about 70 percent of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million people.
Applications for BN (O) passports have soared more than 300 percent since the national security law was imposed last July, with 733,000 registered holders in mid-January.
Britain predicts that they could reach as many as 154,000 Hong Kong residents over the next year and as many as 322,000 over five years, generating an estimated “net profit” of up to $ 4 billion.
The BN (O) passport is a legacy of Hong Kong’s return to authoritarian China.
Many Hong Kongers at the time wanted Britain to grant them full citizenship, but China opposed the move.
The BN (O) was a compromise that allowed Hong Kong people born before 1997 the right to stay in Britain for six months in a row, but without work or settlement rights.
Now it has become one of the few outlets for Hong Kongers hoping to start a new life abroad as authorities carry out mass arrests of democracy supporters and mobilize to purge the troubled city of dissenting views.
– ‘A lifeboat’ –
Stella, a former marketing professional, plans to move to Britain imminently with her husband and three-year-old son.
“The national security law in 2020 gave us one last kick because the provisions basically criminalize freedom of expression,” he told AFP, asking to use only his name.
Under the visa scheme, those hoping to move must show that they have sufficient funds to support themselves and their dependents for at least six months.
Hong Kongers already in Britain who are involved in helping others move say that many early applicants tend to be educated, middle-class people, often with young families, who have enough cash to finance their move.
“Most of the people we spoke to are families with children of primary school or nursery age,” Nic, an activist with a group called Lion Rock Hill UK, told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Some Hong Kongers started to leave the city even before the new plan was put in place.
Earlier this week, Britain said that around 7,000 people moved over the past six months under a separate Leave Out of Rules (LOTR) system. They may also apply for visas on the way to citizenship.
“The BNO is definitely a lifeboat for Hong Kongers,” Mike, a medical scientist who recently moved with his family to the city of Manchester, told AFP.
He said that many Hong Kong residents feared that China could prevent residents from leaving the territory.
“So it is better to leave as soon as possible,” he added.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
