Mainlanders in HK 'should stay'

The Chinese claim the right to live in the former colony

By Damian Grammaticas in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, lawyers for more than 5,000 Chinese migrants who are fighting attempts to deport them have said the mainlanders have the right to remain.

The issue of how many mainland Chinese residents are given right of abode in Hong Kong has been one of the most contentious facing the territory

Hong Kong's highest court is hearing a final appeal brought by thousands of individuals who say they should not be separated from their families in the former colony.

They claim the government indicated it would abide by an earlier ruling which decided they had residency rights in Hong Kong and cannot now send then back to China.

Since the former colony was returned to China the issue of how many mainland Chinese residents are given right of abode in Hong Kong has been one of the most contentious facing the territory.

Ruling overturned

Two years ago the same Hong Kong court ruled that anyone who had at least one parent with residency rights in the territory was also entitled to live in there.

Geoffrey Robertson, a lawyer representing those fighting deportation, said the administration had promised the 5,000 Chinese it would honour the court's judgements.

Hong Kong's authorities say the Chinese migrants must return to the mainland

But the government has since claimed it would be swamped by an influx of over 1.5 million people from China and had the ruling overturned by Beijing.

It has said it will send this group back if they lose their appeal, even if it means separating families.

The government's decision to send the court's original ruling for what it called a reinterpretation by China's National People's Congress in 1999 sparked an outcry in Hong Kong.

There were claims the territory's judicial independence, guaranteed when it was returned to China, was being undermined.

Residency claimants clashed with police and last year a group tried to set fire to themselves in Hong Kong's immigration headquarters.

One residency claimant and a senior immigration officer were killed.