Immigration Department slams parents of three Hong Kong siblings - the eldest aged 19 - who are unregistered and unable to go to school

The Immigration Department has uncovered three siblings aged 17 to 19 who have been living undocumented in the city since birth, after stepping up efforts to track down parents suspected of failing to register their children.

The department discovered earlier this month that the three teenagers, aged 17, 18 and 19, had been living with their Hong Kong father, 55, and Indonesian mother, 52, but the children had never attended school or seen a doctor.

The case of the 19-year-old, a man, marks the longest delay in registering a birth in Hong Kong's history.

"This is alarming and severe," said Fung Pak-ho, assistant director of the department's Enforcement and Removal Assessment Branch. "These parents totally neglect the rights of their kids to education, medical and welfare benefits."

Under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance, parents of every child born must apply to register the birth within 42 days. Offenders are liable to a fine of up to HK$2,000 and a prison term of up to six months.

In April, the plight of two sisters, aged 14 and 15, who had been living undocumented since birth was exposed after the elder sister jumped to her death from their home on the 19th floor of a building in Repulse Bay.