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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Howard Yeung on issue relating to visitors losing travel documents in the Legislative Council today (March 28):
Question:
It has been reported that recently a visitor from South America, who came on a Chinese passport to Hong Kong to visit relatives, could not return to South America because he had lost his passport at the airport, and had been stranded in the airport restricted area for a number of days. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of cases received by the authorities in each of the past five years which involved visitors who lost their travel documents seeking assistance, and whether such cases are of an increasing trend; if so, of the reasons for that;
(b) given that the authorities were not aware that the visitor concerned had been stranded in the restricted area for a number of days until the incident was reported by the press, how the authorities ensure that similar incidents will not recur; and
(c) of the measures to assist visitors who have lost their travel documents to return to their countries of origin as soon as possible?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) It is uncommon to have visitors losing their travel documents in the restricted areas of control points. Hence, the Hong Kong Immigration Department (Immigration Department) has not separately kept statistics on this kind of cases. The figures for visitors who have lost their travel documents during their stay in Hong Kong and need to apply for an endorsement to a travel document or extension of stay at the Immigration Department in the past five years have remained steady with no rising trend, the relevant figures are as follows:
Year Number of Applications
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2002 1944
2003 2147
2004 2427
2005 2095
2006 1859
(b) According to the operational rules of the Hong Kong International Airport, upon learning that a passenger will be stranded in the airport restricted area, the airline concerned has the responsibility to cater for the basic necessities of the passenger. Besides, the airline should notify the Airport Authority, the Aviation Security Company Limited and the Immigration Department, so that appropriate assistance can be given to the passenger. In light of this incident, the Airport Authority will remind airlines to strictly comply with the relevant rules.
(c) Visitors who have lost their travel documents in Hong Kong need to apply for replacement documents at the consulate or representative organisation of their country or region in Hong Kong. If their country or region does not have any consulate or representative organisation in Hong Kong, they may approach the embassy/consulate of their country or region in other places or the relevant authorities of their country or region to apply for replacement documents. The Immigration Department will, according to the actual situation and the requests of the visitors, provide appropriate assistance to facilitate them to continue their journey or return to their domicile as soon as possible.
Ends/Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:45
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