'Don't open back door to unqualified residents': Immigration department defends rejection of African father's dependant visa
A human rights lawyer yesterday accused the Immigration Department of failing to consider the family situation of an African father when it refused to grant him a dependant visa to be reunited with his Hong Kong wife and their daughter.
Barrister Gladys Li SC told the High Court government policy held that the aim and objective of the department was to facilitate family reunions. She said the government had to apply "anxious scrutiny" in dealing with applications such as that of her Malian client, Salifou Dembele, 41.
"To consider the best interests of a child is the primary consideration," Li said.
Li said the department's director failed to consider the impact on Dembele's family of refusing to grant a dependant visa. His application was turned down in July 2011 and April 2013.
She also said the department erred by putting too much emphasis on the financial situation of Dembele and his wife Huang Luyun, 41.
Li said the couple's daughter might be affected by Dembele being forced to stay overseas.
The court heard that Dembele used to work as a purchasing manager in Ghana and spoke Putonghua. He married Huang in 2011. Huang obtained permanent residency in Hong Kong in 2012 and gave birth to their daughter, now aged three, in Hong Kong.
Huang also had two children, aged 10 and 17, with her ex-husband. She lives on government Comprehensive Social Security Assistance. The department previously refused to grant the dependant visa to Dembele due to Huang's financial situation.
Li claimed the couple supported each other and looked after the children together.
Barrister Benjamin Yu SC claimed the department had considered all the circumstances of Dembele's situation and decided to reject his application. "To consider the interest of a child is not therefore a fundamental [human] right," Yu said. "It will not suddenly become a fundamental right. It is a matter of fact."
He claimed there was no human rights issue in the case.
The department had a duty to control who should be allowed to immigrate to Hong Kong, he said. Otherwise, they would open the back door for unqualified residents to enter the city.
The hearing continues before Mr Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung today.
The family has also gone to the Court of Appeal to challenge a preliminary decision allowing the government not to disclose the full immigration policy.
