>In short order, Hong Kongers have become one of Britain’s most important immigrant groups. Between January and the end of September, almost 89,000 applied to settle under a new visa scheme created in response to the rapid erosion of civil liberties in the province. For comparison, 184,000 people from all countries applied for work visas in the first nine months of this year. How many more Hong Kongers might come?
>A study released on December 2nd provides the best clue yet. Man-yee Kan of Oxford University surveyed 1,000 Hong Kongers with British National Overseas (BNO) status for the Migration Observatory, a think-tank. She found that just over 6% had already applied to the British scheme or planned to. Since about 2.9m Hong Kongers have BNO status, that implies 186,000 people, plus their dependants. Remarkably, a further 32% were considering it. Some are vague about when they might apply, which suggests they are not serious—at least, not yet. But about 380,000 could apply within the next five years.
>They are the sort of immigrants any country should be happy to receive. Half of those planning to apply or considering doing so were born in the 1980s or 1990s (BNO status was given only to people born before Britain relinquished control of Hong Kong in 1997). They are more likely to be university-educated than the Hong Kongers who plan to stay, and more likely to be full-time employees. A slight majority are women.
>Those planning or pondering a move are disgruntled about the governance of Hong Kong. They expect to be freer in Britain, not more prosperous: 63% think their earnings will fall. They are probably right, at least about the short term. Even skilled migrants tend to struggle at first if they come without job offers, and many Hong Kong immigrants are still waiting for National Insurance numbers. A survey in August by Hongkongers in Britain, a self-help group, found that less than a third had found jobs in the country.
>But their fortunes will surely change. Many of the Asians who fled east Africa in the 1960s and 1970s came with nothing, and took years to find their feet. They ended up better educated than the average Briton, and more likely to hold top managerial and professional jobs.
Nice to see a good news story. (Albeit because of a bad news story in HK)
Actually proud of the UK for supporting people in need here.
Excellent, now let’s start helping those stuck in France trying to cross the channel.
Good, hopefully they’ll displace a few more pig ignorant indigenous cretins.
But do they know how to drive lorries, or are interested in a “career” in care?
As a disclaimer, I am generally all for this but we need to get real about our housing market situation first. We need tighter controls on landlords and affordable housing. Resettling a ton of additional people is only going to drive up an already superinflated property market.
It’s interesting how people are so opposed to some immigrants and so fine with others…
I say bloody open the door. It would be mutually benifical as long as they don’t all move to the South East.
About time we dealt with some of the fallout from the collapse of our empire. It’s just sad that Hong-Kongers get better treatment simply because they tend to be wealthier than other people who are struggling in former colonial territories.
I actually know a few white Britons who live or have lived in Hong Kong. They are also selling up and coming back because of what Beijing is doing, it’s not considered a nice place for them anymore.
Aha, ‘deserving’ immigrants vs ‘undeserving’ immigrants AKA ‘economic migrants’….
Good.
If we want the UK to remain a top economy and a powerful nation, we need to maintain our population size. This can only be good for the country
1. British diplomatic support, the BBC and British NGOs cultivated the Hong Kong protests
2. The head of the foreign office recently gave an interview where he said China is the biggest threat, but Britain needs people that can infiltrate China and have Chinese language skills.
3. Britain is inviting the most radicalised right wing activists to live here. The golden youth, the children of the wealthy, who hate the People’s Republic.
4. Media campaigning newspapers was the primary source of demands to offer visas to these people. There was no organic movement in support of this.
Can they cook. Im sure we can squeeze in a few more takeaway shops in the town, with the 100 others
Great city HK, loved it when I was there in the early 2000s
Can’t help but feel China is well and truly going it’s own way and cannot be influenced in any meaningful way to alter from its authoritarian regime. Think I’d have serious concerns if I was a Hong Kong resident.
Britain atrocities created the conditions for CCP and most people from Hong Kong need to decolonize their minds stay and fight for a better China. Hong Kong is China, most people that live there are mainland Chinese people, the elite is of course natives. This will probably never happen but half of the world is still has a colonisers brain.
Circumstantially from the work I’ve done recently on real estate investment properties, I can attest to the massive amount of inbound investment from HK in the property markets; in my semi-informed opinion it is already here.
Let’s bring everyone in. I don’t mind having public services stretched to breaking point or the lack of housing. Or the inevitable failure of integration and multiculturalism.
19 comments
>In short order, Hong Kongers have become one of Britain’s most important immigrant groups. Between January and the end of September, almost 89,000 applied to settle under a new visa scheme created in response to the rapid erosion of civil liberties in the province. For comparison, 184,000 people from all countries applied for work visas in the first nine months of this year. How many more Hong Kongers might come?
>A study released on December 2nd provides the best clue yet. Man-yee Kan of Oxford University surveyed 1,000 Hong Kongers with British National Overseas (BNO) status for the Migration Observatory, a think-tank. She found that just over 6% had already applied to the British scheme or planned to. Since about 2.9m Hong Kongers have BNO status, that implies 186,000 people, plus their dependants. Remarkably, a further 32% were considering it. Some are vague about when they might apply, which suggests they are not serious—at least, not yet. But about 380,000 could apply within the next five years.
>They are the sort of immigrants any country should be happy to receive. Half of those planning to apply or considering doing so were born in the 1980s or 1990s (BNO status was given only to people born before Britain relinquished control of Hong Kong in 1997). They are more likely to be university-educated than the Hong Kongers who plan to stay, and more likely to be full-time employees. A slight majority are women.
>Those planning or pondering a move are disgruntled about the governance of Hong Kong. They expect to be freer in Britain, not more prosperous: 63% think their earnings will fall. They are probably right, at least about the short term. Even skilled migrants tend to struggle at first if they come without job offers, and many Hong Kong immigrants are still waiting for National Insurance numbers. A survey in August by Hongkongers in Britain, a self-help group, found that less than a third had found jobs in the country.
>But their fortunes will surely change. Many of the Asians who fled east Africa in the 1960s and 1970s came with nothing, and took years to find their feet. They ended up better educated than the average Briton, and more likely to hold top managerial and professional jobs.
Nice to see a good news story. (Albeit because of a bad news story in HK)
Actually proud of the UK for supporting people in need here.
Excellent, now let’s start helping those stuck in France trying to cross the channel.
Good, hopefully they’ll displace a few more pig ignorant indigenous cretins.
But do they know how to drive lorries, or are interested in a “career” in care?
As a disclaimer, I am generally all for this but we need to get real about our housing market situation first. We need tighter controls on landlords and affordable housing. Resettling a ton of additional people is only going to drive up an already superinflated property market.
It’s interesting how people are so opposed to some immigrants and so fine with others…
I say bloody open the door. It would be mutually benifical as long as they don’t all move to the South East.
About time we dealt with some of the fallout from the collapse of our empire. It’s just sad that Hong-Kongers get better treatment simply because they tend to be wealthier than other people who are struggling in former colonial territories.
I actually know a few white Britons who live or have lived in Hong Kong. They are also selling up and coming back because of what Beijing is doing, it’s not considered a nice place for them anymore.
Aha, ‘deserving’ immigrants vs ‘undeserving’ immigrants AKA ‘economic migrants’….
Good.
If we want the UK to remain a top economy and a powerful nation, we need to maintain our population size. This can only be good for the country
1. British diplomatic support, the BBC and British NGOs cultivated the Hong Kong protests
2. The head of the foreign office recently gave an interview where he said China is the biggest threat, but Britain needs people that can infiltrate China and have Chinese language skills.
3. Britain is inviting the most radicalised right wing activists to live here. The golden youth, the children of the wealthy, who hate the People’s Republic.
4. Media campaigning newspapers was the primary source of demands to offer visas to these people. There was no organic movement in support of this.
Can they cook. Im sure we can squeeze in a few more takeaway shops in the town, with the 100 others
Great city HK, loved it when I was there in the early 2000s
Can’t help but feel China is well and truly going it’s own way and cannot be influenced in any meaningful way to alter from its authoritarian regime. Think I’d have serious concerns if I was a Hong Kong resident.
Britain atrocities created the conditions for CCP and most people from Hong Kong need to decolonize their minds stay and fight for a better China. Hong Kong is China, most people that live there are mainland Chinese people, the elite is of course natives. This will probably never happen but half of the world is still has a colonisers brain.
Circumstantially from the work I’ve done recently on real estate investment properties, I can attest to the massive amount of inbound investment from HK in the property markets; in my semi-informed opinion it is already here.
Let’s bring everyone in. I don’t mind having public services stretched to breaking point or the lack of housing. Or the inevitable failure of integration and multiculturalism.