This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now licensed for reprint.
The American government should further increase its lifeboat , British National Overseas , immigration system for Hong Kongers fleeing a crackdown on opposition and slash their college tuition fees in acknowledgment of the ongoing threat to the city’s guaranteed freedoms, a London-based rights group has told parliament.
” It is crucial that the U. K. Parliament and authorities continue to monitor and respond to the situation in Hong Kong following the March 2024 section of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, widely known as ,’ Article 23 ‘ policy, which furthers the danger posed by the , 2020 National Security Law , to the most , fundamental rights and freedoms , in the city”, Hong Kong Watch said in a presentation aimed at the fresh Labour government.
Citing the continued risk of , security, abuse and , violence , by agents and supporters of the Chinese state, the group said the American government “has a different role to play in addressing the , deterioration of rights and freedoms , in Hong Kong, responding to the needs of BNO Hong Kongers living in the UK, and protecting BNO Hong Kongers from the threat of , international repression”.
It called on the government to further expand the British National Overseas, or BNO, lifeboat scheme for Hong Kongers that was announced by the previous government in January 2021, prompting China to , de-recognize the BNO passport , in protest.
The government , relaxed the rules , in April to allow people to apply for the scheme, which has seen more than 200, 000 applicants to date, on arrival in the U. K.
Adults 27 to 45 years old are currently not eligible because they were minors before the 1997 transition to Chinese rule, according to Hong Kong Watch.
” Many Hong Kongers born between 1979 and 1997 … are stuck in a loophole within the BNO policy: not old enough to have applied for BNO status prior to the handover, but not young enough to qualify under the November 2022 expansion”, it said.
Hong Kong’s growing diaspora
By the first quarter of 2024, 210, 843 Hong Kongers had applied for the visa scheme, making the U. K. home to the largest diaspora of Hong Kongers in the world, excluding mainland China, the group said.
The government should also change the status of Hong Kongers to allow them to pay the , lower tuition rates , offered to British nationals at the country’s universities, Hong Kong Watch said.
Hong Kong BNO visa holders are subject to” substantial barriers” to higher education because they are required to pay international tuition rates, according to the report.
British students currently have their annual university tuition fee capped at £9, 250 ( US$ 11, 950 ), while international students can pay as much as £37, 500 ( US$ 48, 500 ) a year.
Residents of almost all of the UK’s overseas territories have been eligible to pay the lower rate since 2007, but according to Hong Kong Watch, Hong Kongers lost that status at the 1997 handover and must now wait five years before registering as domestic students, putting strain on their integration and preventing them from getting into higher-paying positions.
The Hong Kong Student Alliance estimates that between 1, 500 and 2, 000 Hong Kongers in the U. K. are eligible to enter higher education annually.
High tuition fees
However, prospective students claimed to RFA Cantonese that the high tuition costs are prohibitive.
A student from a Hong Kong secondary school who used the pseudonym T for fear of reprisals said she is considering rescheduling her studies until she obtains permanent residency.
” We could afford tuition for two international students, but]my family ] do n’t want to pay it because it’s so much more expensive — it’s three times the cost”, T said.  ,
” If it’s a matter of a gap of a couple of years, why pay three times the amount”?
