Ageing Hong Kong must welcome one-way permit holders from mainland China

Some recent comments in Hong Kong on one-way permit holders from mainland China have been disturbing and ill-intentioned. The permit is a migration scheme that allows mainland citizens to rejoin their family members in Hong Kong. The daily quota was increased from 75 in 1983 to 105 in 1993, and then to 150 in 1995. The gradual increase was in response to the increasing number of cross-border marriages, so that spouses and children could be reunited in Hong Kong.

First of all, any responsible government would remove barriers for facilitating family reunions. The family is the core building block of any society. Nonetheless, we do need to regulate the flow of new arrivals into Hong Kong without jeopardising the quality of life here.

In the past, very long delays resulting in separation created family problems in Hong Kong. The effects of this still linger in the community. And we have seen some adjustment problems among young migrants in our school system. One of our earlier studies showed that the optimal time for young children to enter Hong Kong was before starting primary school, otherwise they had to make extra efforts to catch up with the Hong Kong school curriculum, especially in English.

High living costs and lack of childcare leave many single mothers trapped in social security

So far, the waiting time for families has been reduced from more than five years to about three years. The vetting system, still controlled by the mainland government, has also become more transparent. Moreover, spouses are also able to enter Hong Kong on a different visa for temporary stays.

One myth about the one-way permit is that it has increased social security costs in Hong Kong. In fact, the 2016 Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) figures from the Legislative Council Secretariat show that only about 5 per cent of the CSSA recipients were one-way permit holders.