Due to the political and economic instability under the epidemic, immigrants have become the last escape route for Hong Kong people. According to the statistics of the number of people entering and leaving Hong Kong through three ports in the first quarter of this year, the net outflow of Hong Kong residents has been increasing, reaching over 140,000. In contrast, the Hong Kong government has chased away Hong Kong people, but has welcomed a large number of fake refugees to stay in Hong Kong to enjoy the blessings. The Hong Kong government has spent a huge amount of public funds of 7.27 billion yuan in the past 8 financial years to nourish the curse and set itself on fire. In the past three years, there have been nearly 5,000 non-refoulement claim cases, only a few of which have been confirmed. Among them, some fake refugees are more “fine face” and abuse the legal aid process. Judicial review has become a talisman for staying in Hong Kong. Judicial review cases approved have cost more than 100 million yuan of public funds. A member of the Legislative Council Finance Committee yesterday pointed out that the public felt that the public funds were used “unjustly.” Refugees raised their hands to apply for legal aid as soon as they “landed”, and later applied for legal aid, questioning the strength of the Legal Aid Department. Zhuang Yindong, director of the Legal Aid Department, said that if there is any misconduct such as instigation, it will be reported to the Law Society for disciplinary follow-up.
Over 25,000 petitions in 12 years, only 281 cases were confirmed
According to the information, the number of torture/non-refoulement claim cases received by the Immigration Department in the past three years has been repeated, with 1,213, 1,223 and 2,528 cases received in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. From the end of 2009 to December 2021, among the 25,208 claims reviewed by the ImmD, a total of 281 torture/non-refoulement claims were established; 741 non-refoulement claims were pending. Among the 741 claimants, 54% overstayed and 39% entered illegally.
The backlog of 7,700 unhandled high court cases has no deadline
The current backlog of non-refoulement claims is also increasing. Among them, the number of related cases pending in the High Court, 7,000 in the Court of First Instance, 400 in the Court of Appeal, and 300 in the Court of Final Appeal , the judiciary can handle regarding 3,000 cases in total each year, but it is difficult to estimate when it will be completed.
The LAD replied to a written question earlier, stating that in the past three years, the Department has received a total of 1,468 applications for legal aid from non-refoulement claimants, of which 1,212 were denied legal aid. As many as 204 cases. As for the number of legal aid certificates issued for judicial review-related cases, there is an upward trend from 2019 to 2021, with 81, 82 and 84 cases respectively, and a total of $101.1 million has been spent in the past three years. In addition, in the 2022/23 financial year, the Security Bureau has earmarked $108 million for the non-refoulement claim legal support scheme operated by the Duty Lawyer Service. the bottomless pool.
Councilman Ge Peifan said at the meeting that Hong Kong spends nearly $1 billion on non-refoulement claimants every year, but some of them abuse judicial review and delay their stay in Hong Kong, and the Legal Aid Department approves many cases every year. More than 100 million yuan of public money was spent, and some citizens thought that the public money was used well and “unjustly”. She therefore asked how long it would take the Legal Aid Department to process cases and whether non-refoulement claimants might choose a lawyer to represent them.
“Someone will help you when you get off the plane.”
She also pointed out that there is no information on the lawyer’s fees, and questioned that there are law firms that specialize in such cases. She pointed out that some non-refoulement claimants “will be helped when they get off the plane, but some people have taught them what to do”, and questioned that some lawyers “point right How regarding taxpayers?” She stressed that “it’s not good for people to take advantage of this system.” She also pointed out that although there is a quota to limit the number of cases lawyers can handle, there is no limit to the “rotation” of law firms.
Zhuang Yindong, Director of the Legal Aid Department, responded that the department has a service commitment to complete the examination and approval within 3 months, and the recipients have the right to choose their own lawyers. As for the department, the department has improved the allocation of places. order, to avoid focusing too much on a small group of lawyers, emphasizing that there is good progress and the average case acceptance rate has dropped. Zhuang also pointed out that if a law firm is involved, the department will check whether the law firm has enough manpower, and even if the quota is not exceeded, it will be reviewed.
