Hong Kong schools ban Chinese children

A human rights group in Hong Kong says it will take up with the United Nations the cases of children from the Chinese mainland being denied access to schooling.

The Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor says it is preparing submissions to three UN committees criticising the Hong Kong education authorities denial of what it says is the children's right to an education.

About 190 children of Hong Kong parents are reported to have been told by the Chinese authorities that they have to have proper exit visas before coming to Hong Kong - a process that can take years.

The education authorities say the children are not eligible for schooling because they are visitors or illegal immigrants.

The clash is the latest in a number of showdowns between human rights activists and the Chinese authorities over the issue of mainland Chinese in Hong Kong

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service