Migrants who believed the Government had promised them the right of abode after the reinterpretation of the Basic Law are being rejected amid mounting confusion over who is entitled to stay in Hong Kong.
Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Shuk-yee said on Saturday that the rights of those who made claims to the Immigration Department before the landmark court ruling on January 29 would be recognised.
But migrants who say they are in that position are being turned away by the Government.
Solicitor Rob Brook said: 'We have been inundated with calls from people who made their claim in one or more of a wide variety of ways before January 29. They have gone to Immigration and are being told 'no, you are not on the list'.' He called on the Government to make public the criteria used to determine which migrants qualified under the promise.
Paul Chan Chi-kin, a spokesman for the Immigration Department, said the decision regarding who qualified was made on a case by case basis.
'They need to have given enough papers to satisfy us that they might have the right of abode . . . I can't say how much is enough, it depends on each case,' he added.
He said a verbal claim to the right of abode, unsupported by evidence, would not have been enough to get on the list.
