UK announces $59M to help resettle Hong Kongers

LONDON

The British government on Thursday announced that it will provide a package worth £43 million ($59 million) to support Hong Kong citizens arriving in the UK under the British National Overseas (BNO) Passport scheme.

Some £5 million ($6.9 million) will be used to set up 12 virtual “welcome hubs” across the UK to help arrivals from Hong Kong to access housing, education, and employment.

Local councils in England will be given £30.7 million ($42.2 million), while the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will get £5.8 million ($8 million).

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “We are a champion of freedom and democracy and will live up to our responsibilities to the people of Hong Kong, so that these families will come to find the UK a place they can call home.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “We are working hard to successfully resettle people here and recognise there is nothing more difficult than leaving your home to rebuild a life in a new country.

“I know communities up and down our country will welcome new arrivals with open arms and support them to build a new life in the UK.”

In January, the British government announced a new scheme under which Hong Kongers with BNO status are eligible for UK visas, and after five years can apply for settlement, then full British citizenship after 12 months. The scheme followed China’s imposition of a controversial and far-reaching national security law on Hong Kong, which used to be a former British colony.

Around 5.4 million Hong Kongers are eligible under the scheme, and local media reported that around 322,000 could make use of it over the next five years.

“Providing these supports and education programmes will be vital to help Hongkongers fleeing to the UK to settle and integrate,” John Song, from the Stand with Hong Kong campaign group, was quoted by local media as saying.

“However, as the joint signatory of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the UK also has a responsibility to hold China to account for its gross human rights violations. The UK needs to send a clear message to China that destroying Hong Kong’s autonomy has consequences,” Song added.