Guard at the forefront of Hong Kong, Serve our country with dedication
The year 2016 marks the 55th anniversary of the Immigration Department. With a staff of only around two hundred when it was established, the Department has evolved to become an elite team with over 7,000 staff members. I am honored to become the Director of Immigration at the time when the Department is entering a new course of development, and to lead all staff members to keep guard at the forefront of Hong Kong by strictly enforcing immigration laws and providing quality services to the public and visitors. Reviewing the work of last year, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my colleagues for their hard work and dedication. Thanks to them, the Immigration Department continues to be a disciplined force that enjoys the trust of the public.
As a cosmopolitan city, Hong Kong has a large volume of incoming and outgoing visitors. In 2016, a total of nearly 300 million passengers passed through our control points. In the face of such huge passenger traffic, the Department, with the utilisation of technology, implemented different measures over the years to enhance the overall passenger handling capacity of control points. Last year, the Immigration Control System came into operation in phases. With the installation of more than 150 new multi-purpose e-Channels and the upgrade of the existing e-Channels to multi-purpose e-Channels, there are nearly 600 multi-purpose e-Channels in Hong Kong, which can be flexibly deployed for use by Hong Kong residents and visitors. Also, we introduced Self-Service Departure for Visitors in 2017 to allow eligible visitors holding valid electronic travel documents to perform self-service departure clearance through e-Channels without enrolment. Moreover, with the commissioning of the three new land boundary control points at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, and Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai in succession, the overall handling capacity of control points can be further enhanced.
Apart from facilitating travelling, the Department also strives to safeguard the security of both Hong Kong and our country by guarding at the forefront of Hong Kong and the southern gateway to our country. In the past year, one of our major challenges is handling the surge in number of non-refoulement claims in recent years. To tackle the problem at source, we sent delegates to Vietnam, Pakistan and Bangladesh last year to brief the relevant authorities about the purposes of the implementation of the Unified Screening Mechanism and discuss matters on mutual cooperation. These measures have started to deliver results. The number of non-ethnic Chinese illegal immigrants intercepted by the Department dropped significantly by 40% while the number of people who lodged non-refoulement claims decreased by nearly 25% in 2016 as compared with last year. The remaining half of the claimants were mainly overstayers, among them over 30 per cent were Indian nationals enjoying visa-free concession. Thus, since January 2017, the Department has implemented Pre-arrival Registration for Indian Nationals to facilitate bona fide Indian visitors while preventing doubtful visitors with high immigration risk from coming to Hong Kong. In the long term, we will continue conducting the comprehensive review on the strategy of handling non-refoulement claims from four dimensions, including pre-arrival control, screening procedures, detention, and enforcement and removal. We also spare no efforts to deter non-refoulement claimants from taking up employment in Hong Kong and have strengthened enforcement actions against the employers concerned in order to reduce the incentives for non-refoulement claimants to come to Hong Kong.
It is our duties to safeguard Hong Kong and to enhance our services to meet public expectation. The Department has been making untiring efforts to lobby for visa-free access for HKSAR passport holders. As at 31 March 2017, 158 countries and territories have already granted visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to HKSAR passport holders. In addition, following the arrangement for mutual use of automated immigration clearance service with Korea, Singapore and Germany, the same arrangement with Australia was made in 2016. To provide greater travel convenience for HKSAR passport holders, we will continue to negotiate with other countries or territories for mutual use of automated immigration clearance service.
The Department has all along been providing people-oriented services for Hong Kong residents with dedication. It is our vital task to continue to provide practical assistance to Hong Kong residents in distress outside Hong Kong. Since its establishment, the Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit of the Department has strived to enhance its services in order to provide timely and appropriate assistance to Hong Kong residents in distress outside Hong Kong. In 2016, an Immigration Division was set up under the Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in Shanghai. Moreover, with effect from 7 November 2016, all of the Immigration Divisions in the Mainland have provided HKSAR passport replacement service. The Department also set up an Immigration Division under the ETO in Wuhan in 2017, with a view to providing more comprehensive support to Hong Kong residents in distress in the Mainland.
To tie in with the development strategy of fostering co-operation and exchanges between Hong Kong and countries along the Belt and Road as mentioned in the 2017 Policy Address, we have adopted a friendly and practical immigration policy and will consider relaxing the visa requirements for employment, study and visits for nationals of those countries. In this connection, we have relaxed the visa requirements for Cambodian nationals to enter Hong Kong for employment, investment and study. The HKSAR Government has also reached a consensus with Belarus on mutual visa exemption so as to provide greater travel convenience for the visitors of the two places.
Human capital is Hong Kong’s most treasured asset. To tackle the problems posed by an ageing population and a shrinking labour force, the Department, in line with the HKSAR Government’s population policy, has implemented various admission schemes. In 2016, we sent delegates to the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France to promote and introduce various admission schemes, including the Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents launched in recent years. The aim is to attract and retain high-quality talent and professionals from outside Hong Kong, thus enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness.
Looking ahead, we will commit ourselves to implementing the new information systems strategy. Apart from the Next Generation Smart Identity Card System under development, we plan to launch the territory-wide identity card replacement exercise starting from 2018. Meanwhile, the tendering exercise of the Next Generation Electronic Passport System is underway. It aims to replace the existing ageing computer system to enhance its operational efficiency and effectiveness in supporting the issue of new HKSAR travel documents. This project is expected to be implemented in 2019.
I am deeply proud that all our colleagues have performed their duties diligently and served the community with dedication over the years. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the Motherland. I will definitely continue to work hand in hand with our staff and strive to contribute to the prosperous development of Hong Kong and our Motherland through our professional teamwork.
Director of Immigration
Tsang Kwok-wai, Erick
I.D.S.M.