Hong Kong Watch condemns Hong Kong’s refusal of entry to sitting British Parliamentarian

Hong Kong Watch strongly condemns the decision of the Hong Kong government to refuse entry to Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, Wera Hobhouse, last week. 

On Thursday 10 April, Wera Hobhouse MP flew to Hong Kong to visit her newborn grandson and other family members who live in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). However, she was held at airport security, had her passport confiscated and luggage searched, was questioned by immigration officials and was then refused entry. 

This marks the first time that a British MP has been refused entry to Hong Kong in the nearly 28 years since the handover on 1 July 1997. 

In October 2017, Hong Kong Watch co-founder and Trustee Benedict Rogers was similarly refused entry to Hong Kong. Following this incident, Hong Kong Watch was formally launched two months later. 

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Trustee of Hong Kong Watch, commented: 

“Having been refused entry to Hong Kong, a city I love dearly and which was once my home, I know firsthand what kind of treatment Wera Hobhouse has gone through and I extend my deepest sympathies. 

It is especially outrageous and shocking that she was denied entry even though her only purpose for visiting Hong Kong was to see her newborn grandson for the first time and be with her son and his family. To be denied the right to hold her three-month old grandson for the first time is appalling. This is a tragic demonstration of how national security laws have rendered Hong Kong unsafe for anyone, regardless of nationality, who is even mildly critical of the erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms.” 

英國國會議員赴港探孫被拒入境 香港監察促外相傳召中國大使要求解釋

香港監察強烈譴責香港政府上星期拒絕英國自由民主黨巴芙（Bath）選區國會議員Wera Hobhouse入境。

4月10日（星期四），Wera Hobhouse MP飛抵香港，打算探望新生孫兒和其他住在香港的家人。然而，她在機場接受安檢時被扣留問話，護照被沒收，行李被搜查，最後被遣返英國。

這是香港自1997年7月1日主權移交後近28年來，首次有英國國會議員被拒絕入境。

2017年10月，香港監察共同創辦人兼信託人羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）同樣被拒絕入境香港。事件發生後兩個月，香港監察正式在英國國會成立。

香港監察共同創辦人兼信託人羅傑斯表示：

「我曾經被拒絕入境香港，香港是我深愛的城市，亦曾經是我的家。因此，我親身明白Wera Hobhouse所經歷的遭遇，並對此深表同情。

她訪港的唯一目的是見從未見過面的新生孫兒，與兒子和他家人相聚，但就被拒絕入境，這點尤其令人憤慨震驚。被剝奪第一次抱她三個月大孫兒的權利實在駭人聽聞。這件不幸事件顯示，國安法怎樣不分國籍，令香港對任何人都不安全，就算是溫和批評香港自由受到侵蝕的人。」