HKW Patron and the last British Governor of Hong Kong calls for the extension and expansion of Canada’s Open Work Permit for Hong Kongers

Today, Lord Patten of Barnes, a patron of Hong Kong Watch and the last British Governor of Hong Kong, has written to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly MP and the Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser MP to urge them to extend and expand the Open Work Permit scheme for Hong Kongers.

In his letter, Lord Patten notes that “Hong Kongers wish to live in free, democratic, and open societies, where the rule of law exists, and are voting with their feet and leaving the territory at an unprecedented level. This includes many young Hong Kongers who are not covered by the BNO scheme and face the very real prospect of arrest under the National Security Law.”

He urges the Government to “consider ways that you can expand its provisions to allow those Hong Kongers who graduated from university outside of the current five year limit, those frontline human rights defenders (many of whom have police records for protest related offenses), and those Hong Kongers who have not attended a higher education institution in Hong Kong.”

Lord Patten concludes his letter by outlining “that extending and expanding the Open Work Permit scheme for Hong Kongers would not only demonstrate Canada’s continued commitment to support the people of Hong Kong, but would be in line with your government’s immigration policy.”

The full letter from Lord Patten of Barnes can be read here.

香港監察贊助人、前港督彭定康勳爵呼籲加拿大政府延長及擴大OWP

香港監察贊助人、末任香港總督彭定康勳爵今天致函予加拿大外交部長趙美蘭（Mélanie Joly）和移民、難民及公民部長弗雷澤（Sean Fraser），呼籲延長及擴大專為香港人而設的開放式工作簽證（OWP）。

彭定康勳爵在信中表示，「香港人希望生活在自由、民主和開放的法治社會中，正以史無前例的規模離開香港，以示不滿。當中包括許多未能受惠於 BNO 計劃的年輕港人，他們面臨着可能因《國家安全法》而被捕的處境。」

他敦促加拿大政府「考慮如何擴大 OWP 計劃的規定，讓那些從大學畢業超過目前五年限制的港人、前線人權捍衛者（其中許多人因抗爭而留有案底）和沒在香港上過高等學府的港人能夠受惠。」

彭定康勳爵在信末指，「延長及擴大為港人而設的 OWP 計劃不但顯示加拿大貫徹支持香港人的承諾，而且符合加拿大政府的移民政策。」

請在此處閱讀彭定康勳爵的信函全文。