The recent outbreak of the new crown pneumonia in Hainan Province, the mainland, has been strictly controlled by the authorities, and many Hong Kong people have been stranded there and cannot return to Hong Kong. Some stranded Hong Kong residents told this newspaper that they have been stranded in Haikou City, the province since the beginning of this month, for 11 consecutive days, and the city is implementing “static management”. Air traffic control has caused a large number of flights to be cancelled, and she feels that she cannot return to Hong Kong. Very helpless. The Hong Kong Immigration Department said that as of the previous day, it had received 27 relevant Hong Kong residents for assistance, and had immediately checked the situation through the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong and provided feasible assistance.
Ms. Chen went to Sanya City, Hainan Province on a business trip on the 1st of this month. When she arrived in Po, she found that the local epidemic situation was serious and the atmosphere was tense. She felt bad, and in order to return to Hong Kong quickly, she only stayed in Sanya for one day and transferred to Haikou on the 3rd of this month. However, following she arrived in Haikou, most of her flights were cancelled and she was unable to return to Hong Kong. The city also began to implement “static management”, that is, all towns, villages and communities were closed and managed. In principle, only one entrance and exit was reserved. , does not flow, does not aggregate.
The Immigration Department actively follows up and provides assistance
The flight tickets booked by Ms. Chen’s colleagues were cancelled, and other flights might not be booked under “static management”. Ms. Chen said that she learned that other provinces and cities in the mainland have successively sent chartered flights to pick up residents, but the Hong Kong government has no news of chartered flights for the time being, and the local atmosphere is becoming increasingly tense. She worries that Haikou City will become the next city to be closed following Sanya City.
In desperation, Ms. Chen asked the Hong Kong Immigration Department for help and was told that she needed to submit a departure application, and her itinerary following submitting the departure application was unknown. She said that there were more than 30 Hong Kong residents who were stranded in Haikou together and might not return to Hong Kong. “We are not so rude that we want the Hong Kong government to send a chartered flight, but we just want the Immigration Department to arrange for us to fly to Shenzhen and then go back to Hong Kong directly. re-isolate”. Ms. Chen said that the current policy of Haikou City “changed so fast every day”, and the news was extremely chaotic, and she was very helpless and worried that she might not obtain the follow-up itinerary and handling method from the immigration department.
The Immigration Department replied to this newspaper that it and the GDETO will continue to maintain close contact with the seekers, actively follow up the incident and provide all feasible assistance according to the wishes of the seekers. The ImmD reminds Hong Kong residents abroad that if they need assistance, they can call the 24-hour helpline of the “Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit” of the ImmD;
The Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports apologized to the tourists who were still stranded there last night, saying that the progress of the return journey did not meet expectations.
