Hong Kong Watch BNO rights campaign: A story of turning the impossible into possible
Over 150,000 people from Hong Kong have moved to the UK on the BNO visa scheme in the two-and-a-half years since its launch in January 2021. The policy allows eligible Hong Kongers to build a new life in this country that feels both strange and familiar to them, and enjoy freedoms they cannot enjoy back home. Nevertheless, very few people know this can be traced back to a call in late 2017 – a call that many people perceived to be impossible back then.
Here is the story of how the impossible was turned into possible.
In November 2017, while we were preparing to found Hong Kong Watch, our founding Patron, the late Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, along with other founding Patron, Lord Alton of Liverpool, and the last Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten of Barnes, raised the need to give Hong Kong BNO passport holders right of abode in the UK should the situation in Hong Kong worsens. At that time we saw the disqualification of pro-democracy legislators, jailing of student leaders and Beijing’s statement that they would exercise ‘overall jurisdiction’ over Hong Kong, which we considered signposts to the dismantling of Hong Kong’s promised freedoms, autonomy and rule of law. Campaigning for the rights of BNOs has since then become one of the important missions of Hong Kong Watch.
On 11 December 2017, Hong Kong Watch was launched in the Speaker’s House in the UK Parliament.
Following his trip to Hong Kong in November 2017, Lord Ashdown released a report highlighting multiple areas of concern including the rights of BNO passport holders, in January 2018.
In February 2018, Lord Alton discussed BNO rights with the then Home Secretary, Sajid Javid.
From spring to summer 2018, we received and reviewed multiple proposals for the extension of BNO rights, forwarded by parliamentarians, and started meeting BNO advocacy groups.
In April 2018, Lord Alton and Lord Patten proposed working with member states of the Commonwealth.
In October 2018, following Lord Alton and Lord Patten’s proposal, we visited Canada, Germany and the US to discuss BNO rights.
On 4 March 2019, Lord Alton hosted the first-ever seminar on the extension of BNO rights in the House of Lords, attended by parliamentarians and staffers of the Prime Minister’s Office. Hong Kong Watch formed a BNO Community to support the work of BNO activists and take the campaign forward.
In May 2019, we met with Steve Double MP, the then Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration, to discuss BNO rights.
On 1 July 2019, we arranged for BNO advocacy groups to deliver a petition to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office. Lord Alton accepted the petition in person.
On 10 July 2019, Steve Double MP presented a petition to the House of Commons for the rights of BNO passport holders. He also included the BNO issue in the government’s white paper on immigration.
From September to December 2019, we met with the Home Office regularly to discuss options for BNOs.
In September 2019, over 150 parliamentarians signed a letter to the then Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, calling on Commonwealth states to provide the people of Hong Kong with second citizenship and the right of abode elsewhere. 40 MPs had backed an Early Day Motion which made the same call.
In December 2019, a poll commissioned by Hong Kong Watch and a civil society group showed significant public support for the extension of right of abode to Hong Kong BNO passport holders.
In January 2020, we arranged for BNO advocacy groups to deliver a petition to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office again.
On 30 January 2020, Steve Double MP hosted a roundtable discussion for Hong Kong Watch’s BNO Community in Parliament. Tom Tugendhat MP joined the roundtable and threw his support for the extension of BNO rights.
In January 2020, we examined options for BNOs with the Home Office to finalise a BNO visa policy.
From February to June 2020, we met with the Home Office to discuss further the viability of a BNO visa policy.
On 14 February 2020, the former Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC, wrote to the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary, accusing the government of misquoting his BNO legal advice and stating that the UK could legally extend BNO rights.
On 23 May 2020, Laurie Fransman QC, a leading immigration silk, offered the government legal advice, elaborating on why the extension of BNO rights would not constitute a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
On 2 June 2020, the government announced that the UK would increase BNO rights if China enacted the proposed national security law in Hong Kong.
On 14 June 2020, Hong Kong Watch published a briefing detailing what further steps could be taken by the government and other key stakeholders to offer BNOs and non-BNO Hong Kongers in need a lifeline.
On 1 July 2020, the government announced the introduction of the BNO visa scheme, with applications opening from 31 January 2021.
香港監察協助爭取BNO權利：把不可能變成可能的故事
自2021年1月英國政府推出BNO簽證計劃兩年半以來，已有超過15萬名香港人透過BNO移居英國。政策讓合資格香港人在這個既陌生又熟悉的國度建立新生活，享受在故鄉無法享受的自由。然而，絕少人知道這可追溯至2017年底發起的運動──當時很多人認為不可能成功的運動。
這是我們如何把不可能變成可能的故事。
2017年11月，當我們籌備成立香港監察時，已故創始贊助人艾思定勳爵（Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon）、創始贊助人奧爾頓勳爵（Lord Alton of Liverpool）和前港督彭定康勳爵（Lord Patten of Barnes）聯聲提出，若香港局勢惡化，就有必要給予香港BNO護照持有人英國居留權。當時我們看到民主派立法會議員被取消資格，學生領袖被判監，還有北京揚言要對香港行使「全面管治權」，種種跡象預示着香港獲承諾的自由、自治和法治面臨摧毀。爭取BNO權利從此成為香港監察的重要使命之一。
2017年12月11日，香港監察在英國國會下議院議長府邸成立。
艾思定勳爵在2017年11月到訪香港，其後在2018年1月發表報告，重點關注BNO護照持有人權利等多個範疇。
2018年2月，奧爾頓勳爵與時任內政大臣賈偉德（Sajid Javid）討論BNO權利。
2018年春季至夏季，我們收到並審視多份轉寄自國會議員的擴展BNO權利建議書，並開始與BNO倡議團體會面。
2018年4月，奧爾頓勳爵和彭定康勳爵提議與英聯邦成員國合作。
2018年10月，因應奧爾頓勳爵和彭定康勳爵的建議，我們到訪加拿大、德國和美國，討論BNO權利。
2019年3月4日，奧爾頓勳爵在上議院主持史上首個擴展BNO權利研討會，與會者有國會議員和首相辦公廳職員。香港監察創立BNO社群，藉以支援BNO運動人士的工作，推動運動發展。
2019年5月，我們與時任英國國會跨黨派移民小組副主席Steve Double MP會面，討論BNO權利。
2019年7月1日，我們安排BNO倡議團體向外交部和內政部遞交請願信。奧爾頓勳爵親自接信。
2019年7月10日，Steve Double MP向下議院提呈請願，提倡BNO護照持有人的權利。此外，他將BNO議題納入政府移民白皮書。
2019年9月至12月，我們定期與內政部會面，商議BNO的可選方案。
2019年9月，逾150名國會議員聯署致函時任外交大臣藍韜文（Dominic Raab），呼籲英聯邦國家給予香港居民第二公民身分和居留權。40名下議員較早前簽署支持作同樣呼籲的早期動議。
2019年12月，由香港監察和民間團體委託展開的民意調查顯示，英國民眾大力支持擴展居留權至香港BNO護照持有人。
2020年1月，我們再次安排BNO倡議團體向外交部和內政部遞交請願信。
2020年1月30日，Steve Double MP在國會為香港監察BNO社群主持圓桌討論。下議員董勤達（Tom Tugendhat MP）參與討論，並表示支持擴展BNO權利。
2020年1月，我們與內政部研究BNO的可選方案，為BNO簽證政策定案。
2020年2月至6月，我們與內政部會面，進一步商議BNO簽證政策的可行性。
2020年2月14日，前檢察總長、御用大律師戈德史密斯勳爵（Lord Goldsmith）致函內政大臣和外交大臣，指責政府錯誤引用其BNO法律意見，並指出英國可合法擴展BNO權利。
2020年5月23日，專攻移民的御用大律師Laurie Fransman向政府提供法律意見，闡釋為何擴展BNO權利不會構成違反《中英聯合聲明》。
2020年6月2日，政府宣布，若中國在香港強推國家安全法，英國就會增加BNO權利。
2020年6月14日，香港監察發表簡報，詳述政府及其他關鍵利益相關者可採取的進一步措施，藉以為有需要的BNO和非BNO香港人提供救生索。
2020年7月1日，政府宣布推出BNO簽證計劃，計劃由2021年1月31日起開放申請。
