HK families defy deportation order

Abode seekers have been given until Sunday to leave

By Damien Grammaticas BBC Hong Kong correspondent

Hundreds of families in Hong Kong have vowed to continue their fight to prevent their children from being deported to mainland China.

Several thousand children in the territory have been denied the legal right of abode with their parents and have been told they must return to the mainland.

Deadline looms

7,000 people told they cannot stay

Government says 4,500 have applied for papers to leave

Of these, 1,600 had left by Thursday

Hong Kong's government has set a deadline for the children to leave voluntarily by Sunday, or it will forcibly expel them.

Now, after years of legal battles, the deadline to end what has become known as the right of abode saga is looming.

Earlier this year, 7,000 children lost their final legal appeal to be allowed to live with their parents in the territory.

The government has given them until 31 March to leave their families and homes and return to China. After that, they will be deported.

But in a meeting, about 2,000 families have vowed to defy the order and fight on.

The ruling allows 200 people to stay

Their lawyers are trying to lodge last-minute claims for legal aid and damages against the authorities to stave off the deportations.

Some families are still staging hunger strikes. The government has called on them to remain calm and leave the territory.

But over 2,000 children have now returned to China, although many more say they will not go.

Some are young children who have nowhere to live in mainland China. Others say they should be allowed to stay in Hong Kong to care for elderly and sick parents in the territory.

The abode seekers are particularly bitter because they were initially granted the right to live with their parents three years ago.

But Hong Kong's authorities, with the help of the central government in Beijing, removed those rights citing the need to limit immigration to the territory.

It looks increasingly likely that the families will be split apart.