Officers raid abode seekers' homes
More than 100 immigration and police officers raided the homes of abode seekers for the first time yesterday, breaking down the doors of one flat, in a dramatic escalation of the deportation action against the claimants.
In addition to the six claimants arrested yesterday, the father of one was also detained for allegedly aiding and abetting his 20-year-old son to overstay - the first parent arrested for such an offence during the right-of-abode saga.
A total of 114 immigration and police officers mounted the joint operation at 7am, raiding 16 homes. More than 10 officers had to break open three doors to gain entry to one of the claimants' homes in Tsz Wan Shan, while the remaining five claimants surrendered voluntarily.
Assistant principal immigration officer Chan Leung-yuk said: 'Throughout the operation, we did not receive any resistance. We gained entry into the premises successfully without any violence whatsoever.'
Mr Chan said the six claimants - three men and three women aged 20 to 42 - were among the 480 abode seekers who had failed to report to the authorities after their written approval allowing them to stay in Hong Kong temporarily had expired.
He said the claimants had been given sufficient time to return voluntarily to the mainland since the Court of Final Appeal handed down a key ruling on January 10 in which most of the 5,114 appellants were ruled to have no residency rights.
A total of 183 abode seekers have been deported since a grace period for them to leave ended on April 1.
'We'll take restrained but firm action to remove the claimants in batches,' Mr Chan said, adding that yesterday's operation was lawful and would be continued at an appropriate time.
While Mr Chan acknowledged that yesterday's raids might send some abode seekers into hiding, he said the action was aimed at convincing claimants to face the reality that they should return to the mainland.
However, a project officer with the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, Jackie Hung Ling-yu, said: 'What they're doing will only add to abode seekers' pain. They're rubbing salt in their wounds.' The commission has been helping the abode seekers.
Rob Brooke, a solicitor who represented several claimants, said the action marked 'a sad day for Hong Kong'.
'Many of those targeted today will probably have been carefully chosen by the Government, but in the future we are going to see children with disabilities being pushed over the border - children who need their parents,' he said.
The vice-chairman of an abode-seekers' parents group, Ngan Siu-lai, said: 'They're bandits. If they continue their operation, I believe some parents will be forced to put up resistance.'
Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai said the action was the most serious breach of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights since 1976 when the treaty was extended to Hong Kong.
Legislator Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee said the act had brought 'shame' to Hong Kong. 'I don't understand why they have to break down doors. Why is it so important for [abode seekers] to be repatriated immediately? It was such an ugly move,' she said.
Legislator James To Kun-sun also said the officers used too much force. 'They have the legal right to make arrests in abode seekers' homes, but they don't need [to do it with] such violence.'
The Hong Kong branch of an international legal experts' group last night questioned the legality of the arrests and urged the Government to stop the use of force.
In a statement issued last night, Gladys Li, SC, chairman of Justice, the Hong Kong Section of the International Commission of Jurists, said the action was in breach of Article 29 of the Basic Law, which affirms that the homes of Hong Kong residents shall be 'inviolable'.
Abode seekers' parents met last night to discuss protest action and warned that forcible removals would heighten emotions and provoke resistance. They will protest outside the Central Government Offices this morning and at Immigration Tower tomorrow and on Sunday.
