Exclusive | Seeking asylum: four-fold increase in illegal immigrant arrests after Hong Kong chief executive’s comments on pulling out of UN torture convention
152 South Asians, including 11-year-old boy, caught sneaking into city by marine police in January
Chief executive Leung Chun-ying’s comments on pulling Hong Kong from an international convention on torture might have fuelled an influx of asylum seekers from South Asia last month, the Post has learnt.
The number of non-Chinese illegal immigrants who sneaked into local waters from the mainland and were intercepted by marine police at landing black spots in Sai Kung, Sha Tau Kok and Lantau nearly quadrupled last month.
The Post was told that an average of 30 to 40 South Asian illegal immigrants were picked up by marine police each month in the fourth quarter of last year, but the figure leapt to 152 last month – the most arrests in a single month over the past two years.
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A source with knowledge of the investigation said they were from South Asian countries such as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, as well as from Vietnam, and had sneaked into Hong Kong by speedboat from the mainland.
“Nearly half of them are Pakistanis. Most of them are men, but about 10 are women. The youngest is an 11-year-old boy,” the source said.
“They applied for asylum from the Immigration Department after they were caught,” the source added.
Nearly half of them are Pakistanis. Most of them are men, but about 10 are women. The youngest is an 11-year-old boy.
It is understood that they paid thousands of US dollars each to travel from their home countries to Guangzhou, where arrangements were made to take them to Hong Kong via Shenzhen. The charge included an air ticket from their home town to Guangzhou and a boat trip from Shenzhen to Hong Kong,