An activist priest in Hong Kong has begun a 25-day silent sit-in outside Admiralty’s government headquarters, demanding authorities grant the right of abode to Hongkongers’ mainland-born children.
Franco Mella, an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a veteran human rights activist in the city, led a group of elders on Friday to the demonstration. The group demanded “family reunion, human rights and justice.”
They said the issue had been unresolved for 25 years, following Beijing’s first interpretation of the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – in 1999. Back then, it overturned a top court’s decision which ruled that residents’ mainland-born children were entitled to live in Hong Kong.
“Our parents are ageing day-by-day, waiting in agony, and yet not seeing their children by their side,” Mella said in Cantonese, urging authorities to address the issue in a timely manner.
Paul Chu, a 73-year-old activist who had been part of the campaign since 2008, said that authorities had promised that “overage” children could be allowed to settle in the city after applications by juniors had been processed, but the promise was not kept.
In 2011, mainland authorities announced that overage children would be allowed to apply for a “one-way permit,” a policy allowing mainland residents to legally reside in the city. Previously, only those who were under the age of 14 by 2001 were allowed to do so.
Chu said that they had submitted about 40 cases to the authorities, in which the applicants’ parents were in poor health or were considered to be in their final days. He urged the government to handle the cases with “humanitarian considerations.”
‘Keep the promise’
Chan Siu-chi, 86, told HKFP that she had been applying for a one-way permit for her two daughters since 1999. Both reside in the Chinese city of Shanwei and are in their 40s.
“I began when I was in my 60s,” she said in Cantonese. “Every year I came [to the protest], and went to the meetings with the Immigration Department… I can barely walk anymore.”
She added that she wished to have her daughters accompany her to the hospital and take care of daily chores.
Yu Siao-ching, who was born in the mainland to a Hong Kong parent and successfully acquired the right of abode as an overage person in 2012, told HKFP that the group estimated some 60,000 people living in the mainland were “overage children,” based on reports by Chinese media.
“We are already adult, and our parents are in need, [Right of abode] is a freedom and identity for us,” Yu said, adding that the mainland-born children are economically capable and not a burden to the local society.
The group held banners that read: “Keep the promise, return the right of abode to overage children” and “Respect human rights, honour the commitments, give us family unions.” They also submitted a letter to a government representative and requested a formal meeting with authorities.
HKFP has reached out to the Security Bureau and the Immigration Department for comment.
Mella plans to stage his silent sit-in outside the government complex for 25 days – marking the 25-year anniversary of the campaign. He set up a yellow tent in an area cordoned off by police.
‘Human rights is connected’
The group said that they wanted to stand in solidarity with the people facing the same dilemma in Macau, who could not express their demands in public “for various reasons.”
“The Macau families fought for many years, they had a lot of actions,” Mella told HKFP. “But then, their representatives were brought to court, so they said: ‘Sorry, we cannot continue.'”
The group also urged the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong to consider granting amnesty to pro-democracy activists jailed for participating in the large-scale democracy protests of 2014 and 2019.
“Each issue of human rights is connected with other issues… [T]o have a stable and open Hong Kong society, the government should also think about the possible release of [activists],” the priest activist said.
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