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SCMP Reporter

'They handcuffed me and let the cameras record that. I had to wear leg shackles in court,' laments Hong Kong man

A Hong Kong man who helped set up one of the first Chinese restaurants in Israel and has worked there for more than 30 years is facing deportation for being an illegal alien.

Ho Yung-chan and his family have  expressed anger at the way he was treated by prison guards when he appeared in court last week. They said  he was handcuffed and put  in leg shackles for the benefit of a  television crew.

Ho, 56, originally from Western District, was arrested at his restaurant in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Lezion on February 2 and  detained until Thursday, when he made his first court appearance. He was released on bail.

He could be deported from Israel within 14 days of a decision.

His plight - which has drawn the attention of Chinese embassy officials, who visited him at his home yesterday - has highlighted what human rights groups say is a growing problem of the treatment of Chinese immigrants  in Israel.

The Israeli consulate in Hong Kong said the matter was before the courts, and hoped for a satisfactory resolution.

Describing his court appearance, Ho said: 'There was a TV team in court and after the judge left, they handcuffed me and let the cameras record that.

'Those few seconds of footage have now been broadcast all over Israel. After the scene was recorded, they took the handcuffs off again. I even had to wear leg shackles in court.'

Ho is charged with illegally working on a tourist visa.

Ho arrived in Israel to work in Tel Aviv's first Chinese restaurant, the Singing Bamboo, in 1973. He later helped open Mandy's, the first Chinese restaurant in the Red Sea resort of Eilat, before opening his own restaurant, the Sunflower, 26 years ago.

Two of his three children were born and studied in Israel, but do not hold Israeli passports.

Ho's lawyer, Efrat Moor-Millman, said she was prevented from attending her client's hearing in prison the day after his arrest. 'They knew that I represented him, but the judge said that my claim would only be on paper and that they were not going to hear my voice [in court].

'The authorities found that Mr Ho was working here instead of being a tourist. We don't deny that he has a lot of businesses,' she said. 'But it's not human, it's not moral or right to treat him like a criminal, because he was here for 30 years.'

Asked why he had not applied for permanent residency, Ho said: 'The policies keep changing. I fulfil all the criteria anyway - I have been here for so long and two of my children were born here.'

Ho's wife, Wong Lai-chun, who is in Hong Kong and unable to obtain an entry visa to Israel, said she was extremely worried.

'They change the laws from year to year. At one time we actually had the right to remain in Israel, but then there was a change of government and that right was taken away.

'We don't understand how the laws work or how they change. We pay all our taxes, but because we are not Israelis, we will get nothing back in the future,' she said.

Ms Moor-Millman said  Israel's laws on foreign workers were discriminatory and badly interpreted by the authorities. 'If Mr Ho had been a serious criminal - a murderer or a thief for example - he would have come to court easier and faster than he  did. This is because he's a foreigner, and the position in Israel is complicated when it comes to foreigners,' she said.

Ho said  he had come to see Israel as his home. 'I'm used to the violence here. It's been 30-odd years, so it's nothing unusual for me. I got here when I was in my 20s, and I'm now 56. I've got used to it, I've put down roots, my business is here. This is politics, and has little to do with ordinary people like me.'

Michael Wong, a close friend of  Ho, said: 'I've known him since 1980 - he is a good person. He never broke any laws, he was just doing business. He used to be famous for his food.'

While  Ho said  he felt  the laws on migrant workers were confusing, he said  he had never been subjected to  racism. 'The Israelis are good people. They're not racist,' Ho said. But he had harsher words for Israeli authorities.

He said that despite having put down his roots in Israel, he and his children had been discriminated against by officials.

'When the Bosnian war started in 1991, I thought it would be safer to send my children back to Hong Kong for a while,' he said.

'But on their way back - at the time they were only 10 years old or so - they were detained at the airport for two days, even though we had all the school certificates as proof. I ask you, where are the human rights in this country?'

Ho's colleague, Chow Yap-fu, said, 'The laws are confusing. You never know today what will happen tomorrow.'



A Tel Aviv restaurateur since 1978 - now Israel wants to deport him