New immigrants may damage the territory if no comprehensive policies are formulated to help cultivate a sense of belonging, the Legco representative for the social welfare profession has warned.
Dr Law Chi-kwong, a Democratic Party member, made the comment yesterday while unveiling a 47-page Green Paper on new-immigrant policy.
The paper covers education, employment, social welfare and housing, and aims to spark more discussion. He hopes the Government will at least endorse some, if not all, of his 26 recommendations.
'The Government should promote the concept of case management - urging the administration to subsidise non-government organisations to open a case file for each new immigrant family and then follow up on each case,' he said.
He said that, through interviewing, the social worker could help assess the needs of each immigrant family, and try to meet those needs. Dr Law hopes Legco panels will put the item on their agenda for next month.
He will organise a seminar to provide a forum for government officials, new immigrants, social workers and welfare organisations.
