Whilst 5.2 million Hong Kong nationals are welcomed into the UK, refugees from elsewhere are being shunned
Protestors blocking tram tracks in Hong Kong. Image credit: Joseph Chan, Unsplash
It may come as no surprise, but the UK government is favouring the affluent.
British National Overseas (BNO) visas allow those who lived in Hong Kong before 1997, as well as their dependents, to stay in the UK for the next five years. Afterwards, they can apply to settle here permanently. According to the government, this is a delivery on the UK’s “historic and moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong”.
Let’s be clear: the UK definitely has an obligation to help Hongkongers in any way it can. Having leased the territory for more than 150 years, it handed the former colony back to China in 1997 in return for a promise of 50 years of non-interference. Since then, Beijing has imposed repeated policy changes, punishing anyone who resists.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 133,000 people have fled their countries and settled in the UK. Often, those seeking asylum are housed in substandard conditions, with poor quality food and little access to healthcare. Millions of Hongkongers are free to enter the UK as they please, provided they pay the £3,389.20 required in visa and NHS fees, and prove they can support themselves financially for six months.
Despite their claims of morality, the government is clearly focused on another factor: money. A press release about BNO visas predicts that allowing Hongkongers into the UK will bring a net benefit of almost £3bn over the next five years. No such statements have been made about the merits of helping those from Iran or Syria. Pretences of virtue are all well and good, but unless it’s extended to all in need, this act of supposed integrity should be viewed with a pinch of cynicism.