All 500 pleas turned down

Not one of the 500 appeals by unsuccessful abode seekers asking to stay in Hong Kong on humanitarian grounds has been approved.

The disclosure came yesterday after six legislators met Director of Immigration Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong to express dissatisfaction that his department had failed to consider the appeals.

But a department spokesman said they had considered the claimants' appeals but all 500 cases examined so far had been rejected.

According to an abode seekers' group, more than 3,000 appeal applications have been sent to Mr Lee.

The 500 rejected cases included that of Lin Yeung-ming, 19, who has asked to stay with her twin sister Yuk-oi, and that of Li Xiru, 73, who has appealed to remain to take care of his 95-year-old father.