Fewer mainland Chinese visitors overstaying permits in Hong Kong - but they still make up largest group
Number of mainlanders exceeding their stay has sharply fallen, but they are still largest group
The number of mainlanders exceeding their legally-allowed stay in Hong Kong has fallen sharply in the last 10 years, but they are still the largest group among overstayers, official data shows.
The figures were released yesterday after lawmakers made inquiries in the wake of the discovery last month that mainland boy Siu Yau-wai, 12, had led an undocumented life among Hongkongers for nine years.
The Immigration Department handled 1,158 cases of mainlanders overstaying last year, down from 1,567 in 2013, 2,146 in 2012, and 2,433 in 2011.
Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said the immigration director had the discretionary power to allow people who had overstayed their permits to remain in the city.
"From 2005 to May 2015, the director exercised discretion to allow 186 persons to stay in Hong Kong," Lai told lawmakers in a written reply.
From January to May, the department handled 556 cases of mainlanders overstaying.
People from other Asian countries accounted for 623 cases during the same period, but no breakdown by nationality was available. There were 129 overstayers from Africa, 11 from South America, seven from Europe and five from North America.
Yau-wai's plight first came to light on May 21, when the Federation of Trade Unions, which was then assisting him and his grandmother, 76, held a media conference before the pair turned themselves in to the department.
The boy was given temporary papers to stay in the city, while his grandmother Chow Siu-shuen was arrested for aiding and abetting a person in breaching conditions of stay. But about two weeks later, Chow had the boy deported voluntarily to the mainland.
Prior to his departure, radical groups staged protests complaining about local resources being used to help people from outside Hong Kong. They also said that allowing an illegal migrant to stay would set a dangerous precedent.
The protesters surrounded the offices of the FTU lawmaker, Chan Yuen-han, who had been helping Yau-wai and also stormed a school he had visited.
Subsequently, more than 100 protesters marched from Causeway Bay to the department's headquarters in Wan Chai, demanding Yau-wai be returned to the mainland immediately.
Last year, 1,373 visitors were prosecuted for overstaying, compared with 1,826 in 2013, 2,437 in 2012, and 2,587 in 2011.
