Government spares no effort in assisting Hong Kong residents attacked in Würzburg, Germany
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“The HKSAR Government is very concerned about the situation of the four Hong Kong residents attacked in Germany.
“It has been maintaining close contact with various parties, such as the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR (OCMFA), the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Germany and the German Consulate-General in Hong Kong, in providing at full speed different forms of assistance to the injured and their families, from following up on investigation progress to providing financial assistance and psychological counselling services,” the spokesman said.
Shortly after the incident, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO) took prompt action to follow up on the case, visiting the injured Hong Kong residents in the first instance and following up on their needs. It has worked closely with the Chinese Embassy in Germany to provide assistance to the families, including liaising with the German Police, arranging ground transport, finding short-term accommodation for the families and providing other possible means of support.
In addition, officers of the Hong Kong Immigration Department (ImmD) have provided such assistance as arranging air tickets for the families to depart from Hong Kong and the United Kingdom to visit the injured and following up on the case in Germany.
After arriving in Germany, the four ImmD officers from Hong Kong also accompanied the family members to visit the injured in hospital with staff of the HKETO and the Chinese Embassy. They have arranged for the families to meet with the medical officers to understand the situation of the injured and their medical treatment. ImmD and staff of the Chinese Embassy also urged the hospitals to ensure that the best medical care is being provided.
To help the families to visit and care for the injured, the ImmD has assisted in the transfer of one of the injured from Nuremburg to Würzburg.
On financial assistance, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) called family members of the injured yesterday evening (July 21). Two sums of $50,000 from the Emergency Fund under Sun Hung Kai Properties' "Building Homes with Heart" Caring Initiative were made available immediately as emergency financial assistance to the two families.
The Labour and Welfare Bureau and the SWD have also proactively contacted and secured the support of various charitable organisations and trust funds, including the Lok Sin Tong Caring Fund, the Hong Kong Volunteers Federation Emergency Fund, the Yan Chai Emergency Assistance Relief Fund and Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Charitable Donation, to offer emergency financial support to the families concerned.
In addition, the HKETO has worked closely with the Federal Foreign Office of Germany to identify all possible means of financial assistance while the German authority has undertaken to provide such financial assistance to the injured. The ImmD has been maintaining close communication with the insurance company to assist the injured and their families in understanding the available support, including the financial and medical coverage of the injured.
Meanwhile, the SWD is arranging psychological counselling and other support services for the two families to address their immediate needs. These include psychological counselling for one of the injured via telephone by a clinical psychologist. The SWD will also render assistance to other needy family members in Hong Kong. It will continue to keep in touch with the families and closely monitor developments with a view to providing appropriate and timely assistance to meet their welfare needs.
As for following up on investigation, the ImmD is maintaining liaison with local authorities, including the German Police, and has requested them to provide to the families the latest updates.
Ends/Friday, July 22, 2016
Issued at HKT 21:44
Issued at HKT 21:44
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