The British government says Hong Kongers holding a British National Overseas, or BNO, passport will soon be allowed to travel to the country without completing an advance travel authorization form, allowing people to flee a political crackdown in the city more easily.
Minister for Migration and Citizenship Seema Malhotra confirmed that holders of the passport issued to eligible Hong Kongers since the 1997 handovers will no longer need to complete an Electronic Travel Authorization before traveling to the U.K.
“Having listened to evidence, we have decided that BN(O) passport holders will no longer need an ETA to travel to the UK,” Malhotra wrote in a March 5 letter to Lord Alton of Liverpool, Patron of the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch.
“This decision has been made on the basis of the close ties that the BN(O) community has with the UK, the historical commitments made to them and, critically, the fact that just like for British citizens with passports, it is the UK issuing their travel documents,” Malhotra said.
Since Beijing imposed two national security laws banning public opposition and dissent in the city, blaming “hostile foreign forces” for the protests, hundreds of thousands have voted with their feet amid plummeting human rights rankings, shrinking press freedom and widespread government propaganda in schools.
Pursuing activists for life
Hong Kong authorities have vowed to pursue activists in exile for life, while jailing political activists at home for “subversion” and putting pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai on trial for “collusion with foreign powers” after articles in his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper called for sanctions on Hong Kong.
More than 220,000 Hong Kongers have relocated to the United Kingdom so far under its British National Overseas lifeboat visa program, launched in January 2021.
Others have made their homes anew in the United States, Canada, Australia and Germany.
BNO passport holders without citizenship or a valid visa have needed to complete the authorization since Jan. 8, according to campaigners for the change.
The Electronic Travel Authorization isn’t generally available to people with a criminal record, meaning that thousands of people jailed for taking part in the 2019 protests or the 2014 Umbrella Movement would be effectively barred from traveling to the U.K.
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In Hong Kong, more than 10,000 people have been arrested and at least 2,800 prosecuted in a citywide crackdown in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, mostly under public order charges or colonial-era sedition laws.
According to the overseas-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, 1,920 of those defendants are classed as political prisoners, or peaceful critics of the government.
‘Relieved’
A Hong Kong resident who gave only the pseudonym C for fear of reprisals said she was released from prison a year ago after serving more than 12 months' imprisonment for “illegal assembly,” a charge used to jail thousands of participants in the 2019 protest movement.
Under the original rules, she would have been unable to board a flight to the U.K., she told RFA Cantonese in a recent interview, something she found “deeply worrying.”
C said while she felt “relieved” at the policy change, there are still plenty of young released prisoners in Hong Kong who don’t qualify for a BNO passport, and who will still need to complete an ETA to travel to the United Kingdom.
Another Hong Konger, who gave only the pseudonym Ji for fear of reprisals, said she has also served more than 12 months in jail for “illegal assembly.”
She now plans to head to the U.K. very soon, and thanked rights groups and advocacy groups for campaigning for the change, although citing concerns for those who aren’t BNO passport holders.
A Hong Konger who gave the pseudonym Ah Tit said he also plans to leave the city with his family soon, after serving 27 months in jail in connection with the protest movement.
“[This way], if anything happens, we can go back [to Hong Kong] if we really want to,” he said. “If we take other routes, especially political asylum, the chances of ever coming back get very small.”
‘Step in the right direction’
Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China Policy, described the rule change as “a step in the right direction,” and came after a number of organizations lobbied the government on behalf of Hong Kongers.
U.K.-based former pro-democracy councilor Daniel Kwok, who co-founded the advocacy group Hong Kong Scots, said the change showed that a democratic government could be pressured into changing its policies.
“It shows that, in a democratic society, as long as we make an effort to speak out and petition, we can actually push the government to change its policies,” Kwok said. “We would like to thank everyone for their efforts in this matter.”
“We will continue to monitor when it will be implemented, and pay attention to whether our fellow Hong Kongers are able to enter the U.K smoothly in future, without being hindered by more technical or administrative problems.”
Hong Kong Watch Research and Policy Advisor Thomas Benson said the group had received “many calls” from Hong Kongers concerned about the ETA requirement.
“We are glad to see the Home Office listening to these concerns and honoring the UK government’s commitment to British National (Overseas) passport holders, and look forward to this change being imminently implemented,” Benson said in a statement on the group’s website.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.