The government will continue to detain about 400 asylum seekers whose removal is pending, three days after a court ruled the detentions were unlawful due to a lack of a clear policy.
A Security Bureau spokesman said last night the government would continue to exercise the power to detain people pending removal, including torture claimants, in accordance with the relevant provisions in the Immigration Ordinance.
'We note that the Court of Appeal judgment [on Friday] does not rule that the government has no power to detain a torture claimant pending his or her removal under the Immigration Ordinance,' he said.
The bureau took note of the Court of Appeal's observation that under Article 5 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, detention must not be arbitrary and the grounds and procedures for detention must be sufficiently certain and accessible. 'We will study the judgment carefully and decide later whether to make an appeal,' he said.
'In the meantime, the Immigration Department has implemented, with immediate effect, additional measures to ensure accessibility of the detention policy to the detainees as a group and individually.'
These included making the detention policy known through the posting of notices in detention facilities, and explaining to detainees the reasons for their detention and the procedures for seeking recognisance - as has already been granted to the four applicants in the court case.