Hong Kong Watch welcomes UK Government support for young Hong Kongers

Hong Kong Watch welcomes the UK’s commitment to provide greater mental health support for young people from Hong Kong as part of a new £2.5 million government fund.

Councils and voluntary organisations can bid for a share of funding which will help thousands of under 21-year-olds from Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong improve their integration into British society. 

The focus will be on ​​mental health support, counselling and therapy, English language courses, employment training and support into higher education.

As well as the new £2.5 million fund, councils across the UK will receive continued funding to support under-21s who have arrived to the UK through the BNO visa. 

The funding complements the UK Government’s existing welcome programme for BNOs, which is now in its third year of operation.

Sam Goodman, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Hong Kong Watch, said: “We are pleased that the UK government is taking seriously the needs of young people from Hong Kong, many of whom lack a support base in the UK and need additional support as they rebuild their lives in the UK.

“This funding will help ease the transition for those young people who have fled Hong Kong in the face of the precipitous decline in freedoms and rights across the board since Beijing’s imposition of the National Security Law in the city. 

“The need to provide better provision for young people from Hong Kong has been apparent since the BNO visa scheme opened in January 2021, but it has become more acute in the past 12 months after the UK Government expanded the scheme to cover more young people.”