HK immigrants fight deportation

The ruling means families will be separated

Thousands of mainland Chinese migrants are vowing to stay in Hong Kong, despite a deadline passing for them to leave.

They were given until midnight (1800 GMT) on Sunday to leave and the Hong Kong authorities have confirmed they will now start deporting them.

They can arrest me if they want

Ko Chin-sheng, whose daughter is defying the deadline

The migrants were born in mainland China and have spent years trying to win the right of abode with their parents in the territory.

About 800 people gathered outside government immigration offices on Monday to protest against the deadline, following an all-night rally in a central park.

Thousands of migrants have overstayed their visitor visas

"This is a government without conscience," said 51-year-old Ko Chin-sheng, who is fighting for his 18-year-old daughter to stay in Hong Kong.

Mr Ko, his wife and three other daughters have residency rights, but Ko Lai-sha is excluded.

"Hong Kong is my home and my daughter has to stay here," Mr Ko told reporters. "They can arrest me if they want. I won't let her go."

Legal defeat

Hong Kong's deputy Secretary for Security Michael Wong said letters were being sent to up to 200 people a day, demanding they report to the authorities to be repatriated.

This woman's 16-year-old daughter must leave

He said any who do not turn up will be considered abscondees and will be subject to removal.

There would be no negotiations, he said, adding that the only people allowed stays to deportation would be those with cases pending before the courts.

Our correspondent Damian Grammaticas says 4,300 children born to Hong Kong residents are now facing deportation.

Some are as young as six-years-old, though many are teenagers or older.

Among those told to leave are one of a pair of twin girls and a 70-year-old man who lives in Hong Kong caring for his 90-year-old father.

For the past five years, the families have been waging a legal battle to stay together, saying their children should have the right of abode with them. The deadline was set after migrants lost a final legal case earlier this year.

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.