Families face Hong Kong uncertainty

The Cheng family are immigrants from the mainland

By Damian Grammaticas in Hong Kong

The Cheng family live in a tiny flat in Hong Kong's Kowloon district. All five of them eat, sleep, cook and work in a space that's no more than 3m wide by 5m long.

The Chengs are immigrants from mainland China. They live in a rich city, but they are poor. For two years the family hasn't had enough money to eat out in a restaurant even once.

They don't have much. But now Hong Kong wants to break the family apart.

One-child policy

Fung Yi, aged 10, wants to stay with her parents

The authorities say that only the oldest child, who's 14, has the right to live with her parents. It wants to deport 10-year-old Cheng Fung Yi and her 5-year-old brother back to China where they were born.

"I'm very young and I need the love of my parents," Fung Yi told me. "I think it will be very horrible if I am sent back to China. I want to stay here. We are happy together."

"In China I can't go to school and I have no family. In Hong Kong I have all those things and I can live with my mother and father."

A long wait

Mr Cheng came to Hong Kong from China in 1979. Mrs Cheng had to wait 14 years before immigration authorities allowed her to join her husband in the territory.

Her children were born in the mainland while she was waiting to move.

We've seen children who've become schizophrenic. We've seen family break-ups, and we've had clients who've committed suicide

Lawyer Rob Brook

But China's one child policy means that only the oldest has the right legal papers to live with her parents. "It will break my heart if my children are sent back to China," Mrs Cheng said. "Every parent wants their children to be with them."

If the children are deported, the family have no relatives in China to take care of them. And without proper registration papers they won't be able to go to school.

Mr Cheng says he has no idea what he will do if his children are taken away from him.

"If my children aren't with me, my life won't really be worth living. My family will be broken apart. I am only an ordinary man, and I don't earn very much. I don't how I can stop it," he said.

Court decision

There are around 5,000 families in the same position. They are all waiting for Hong Kong's highest court to decide whether the government can deport their children.

Rob Brook is a lawyer for the families. He has seen the toll which the two year legal battle has taken.

The Chengs want their children to have a good education

"We've seen children who've become schizophrenic," he said. "We've seen family break-ups, and we've had clients who've committed suicide. Even at it's most minimal level, it's a loss of parental care which will have long term effects."

Hong Kong is one of the few places with an immigration policy which keeps families apart.

The territory is determined to preserve its tough laws and says there is no room for compassion, whatever the individual circumstances.

Last week Mr Cheng bought his children a computer to help with their education. He saved for a year to pay for it. They may only be able to use it for a few more weeks.