HK twins face separation

The girls' parents could bring only one of them

By Damian Grammaticas BBC Hong Kong Correspondent

Lin Yeung-ming and Lin Yuk-oi are identical twin sisters.

They were born in China 19 years ago and should have lived virtually identical lives.

But Hong Kong's immigration policies have made that impossible.

Their father moved to Hong Kong in 1979, before the twins were born.

The winner could come to Hong Kong. I was the loser - I had to stay in China

Lin Yeung-ming

Thousands of migrant workers have come to Hong Kong from China. In many cases it takes years for them to get permission for their wives and children to join them.

In the case of the Lin family, immigration approval finally came when the girls were 12, in 1996. There was just one catch. They were told the family could only bring one child.

Thousands of families are affected by the ruling

Their parents were distraught. They had no way to choose. So they got the girls to play a game of "paper, scissors, stone".

"My parents couldn't decide which of us it should be," the elder twin, Yeung-ming, told BBC News Online.

"For the sake of fairness they made us play the game. The winner could come to Hong Kong. I was the loser. I had to stay in China.

"I was so sad I burst into tears. I ran away and hid."

The younger twin, Yuk-oi, who won the game, moved to Hong Kong, while her sister was left behind.

"I was happy that I'd won, but I also felt so sad," she said. "I felt guilty I was the winner."

Family heartache

Since that fateful day the Lins have fought to piece their family back together. Yeung-ming's parents used to travel across the border twice every month to visit her.

These several thousand people who are in Hong Kong, they have to go back and queue up

Spokesman for Hong Kong's chief executive

In January 1999, Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal ruled that all children whose parents were Hong Kong permanent residents had the right to live in the territory. A few months later Yeung-ming obtained a visitor's visa to see her family.

But, in a widely criticised move, Hong Kong's government sought to have the court judgement overturned. It went to higher authorities in Beijing who effectively removed the rights of at least 8,000 people like Yeung-ming to live with their families in Hong Kong.

Now it says it will move to deport back to China those who are still in the territory and who technically have illegally over-stayed their visas.

Hong Kong's government is facing enormous pressure not to separate the families. But it is standing by its policy.

"There are tens of thousands of children and spouses waiting to enter Hong Kong from China," says Stephen Lam, the spokesman for Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Che Hwa. "So these several thousand people who are in Hong Kong, they have to go back and queue up."

One-way ticket

But the suggestion that they are queue-jumpers angers families like the Lins.

Young children face deportation

They point out that they have already queued, for years. Their daughter came to Hong Kong because the courts upheld the principle of family reunions.

And now they say that because Hong Kong has taken their daughter's entitlement to the right of abode away it will not be possible for her to re-apply if she returns to China.

In addition, the immigration authorities and the courts have taken so long to make decisions about reuniting families like the Lins that Yeung-ming has passed her 18th birthday.

She is now legally an adult, which means that if she goes back to China she is too old to be reunited with her family.

Mr Lin has had major heart surgery and had to give up his job. He is still hoping the authorities might change their minds.

"After my heart surgery I cannot travel back to China often," he says. "If my daughter goes back now I won't see her much.

"I hope Hong Kong gives her amnesty and lets us live together as a family."

Yeung-ming says she will fight to stay on.

"If I have to go back I will have nowhere to live," she says. "I will have no one to take care of me. I won't be able to go to school."

For the time being she is happy with her parents and sister. The two teenage girls giggle and play together.

But behind her smile Yeung-ming waits to see if she will have to face the heartache of separation all over again.