*********************************************************

The Government has received the concluding observations of the UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the first report by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) submitted under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), a Home Affairs Bureau spokesman said today (August 11).

The spokesman said the observations include several positive comments, commending Hong Kong's performance in a number of areas and these were most welcome.

He said:"The Committee welcomed our detailed and comprehensive report and the inclusion of questions in the 2001 Population Census that would help to determine the ethnic and racial composition of Hong Kong. It also commended the extensive consultation with civil society in the preparation of our report, and the work that we and NGOs are doing to address some of the problems of the ethnic minorities".

"We note the Committee's concern in regard to the lack of legislation against racial discrimination. As the Committee has acknowledged, we are currently reviewing the position with a view to determining the way forward in early 2002," the spokesman said.

"We also note the Committee's view that the 'two-week rule', which applies to foreign domestic helpers, may be discriminatory in effect. We do not believe the rule is discriminatory. The rule's main purpose is to counteract the casual change of employers and to deter foreign domestic helpers from overstaying and taking up unapproved work. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, the Hong Kong team did not have a chance to explain this at the hearing. But we have explained our position in writing to the Committee for their consideration after the hearing. "

The concluding observations issued by the Committee are on China including Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions (SARs). They were issued following the Committee's hearing in Geneva, on July 31 and August 1 in which a Hong Kong team, led by the Deputy Solicitor General, Mr Stephen Wong, attended as members of the China's delegation to answer the Committee's questions. The hearing was held by the Committee to examine China's report under the ICERD, which incorporated the reports of the Hong Kong and Macau SARs.

The concluding observations will be uploaded on the Home Affairs Bureau's homepage next week. Hard copies are now available to the media on request from the Duty Officer, Information Services Department or HAB's Information Unit.

End/Saturday, August 11, 2001

NNNN