New | Regina Ip warns welfare ruling could spark influx of mainlanders, raise tensions

An Exco member has warned that a judgment allowing new immigrants to receive social welfare could lead to an influx of mainlanders coming into Hong Kong to claim benefits, and increase hostility towards immigrants.

Legislator Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said the Court of Final Appeal’s ruling on Tuesday that declared it unconstitutional to deny new immigrants Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) benefits could deepen the cross-border conflict between Hongkongers and mainlanders.

“The judgment has a huge impact on local social policies,” said the former secretary for Security Bureau on a radio programme on Wednesday morning.

Ip said the reports on the new judgment were now circulating on the mainland and she worried that middlemen agencies could emerge to exploit the situation.

“More mainland girls may marry old men in Hong Kong and come here on the one-way permit, [they can] divorce after a year and claim CSSA,” she warned.

“This may excite more Hongkongers to oppose the one-way permit system.”