National security law: stay or leave? Quarrels, heartache as Hong Kong families torn over taking up London’s BN(O) ticket
- Some set aside urge to leave Hong Kong, choosing to stay and take care of elderly parents
- Agony for some, an easy choice for others who say Britain offers children a better future
From this weekend, Britain will start accepting applications from people with British National (Overseas) status for a new visa that would earn them a pathway to citizenship. In the second of a three-part series on the BN(O) visa, we meet families struggling to make the decision to stay or to leave. You can read part one here.
Ivy Cheung recalls the day she told her 71-year-old mother she was making arrangements to leave Hong Kong for Britain with her husband and two sons.
“She was so angry and shouted at me. I really did not expect it,” said Cheung, 52, who arrived in Hong Kong as a three-year-old from mainland China.
She tried explaining that the family was leaving for the sake of her sons, not because of politics, but her mother was having none of it.
“She disagreed, and made some hurtful comments,” said Cheung, who works in customer service.
Her mother distrusts London’s offer of a special visa for Hongkongers with British National (Overseas) status, believing it a ploy to siphon away money from Hong Kong.
The heated exchange with her mother left her heartbroken, and things are not yet resolved between them.