The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (OCMFA) and the Immigration Department (ImmD) jointly held the Launching Ceremony of an Animated Video on Consular Protection today (September 19).
      
     To further enhance public understanding of consular protection and public awareness of outbound travel safety, the OCMFA and the ImmD jointly produced an animated video on consular protection, which will be broadcast through different channels, including the OCMFA's website, the WeChat public account of Consular Express of the Department of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Security Bureau's website and its "Safeguard HK" mobile application, and the ImmD's website and its relevant offices and immigration control points. In addition, it is also available on the ImmD's YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/c/immdgovhkchannel).
      
     The launching ceremony, held at the OCMFA, was officiated by the Deputy Commissioner of the OCMFA, Mr Song Ru'an, and the Director of Immigration, Mr Tsang Kwok-wai. Representatives of the tourism and aviation industries and the media were invited to attend. Apart from the broadcast of the animated video on consular protection, promotional booklets on consular protection were also distributed at the launching ceremony.
      
     Mr Song said that Hong Kong is an international metropolis as well as an open and advanced economy. With outbound travel getting increasingly convenient for Hong Kong residents in recent years, going abroad for work, study, business and leisure have become all the more frequent, leading to a growing demand for consular protection. Over the past 21 years since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, embracing the notion "the safety of Hong Kong people is no small matter; the interests of compatriots are extremely important", the MFA has all along duly handled consular protection cases concerning Hong Kong. In addition, the MFA, the OCMFA and the Chinese diplomatic and consular missions will continue to work closely with the ImmD and put up a protective umbrella for Hong Kong people by striving to ensure the safety and protect the legitimate interests of Hong Kong people travelling abroad, so that they can truly understand that the motherland always stands firmly behind them.
      
     According to Mr Tsang, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been closely following the country's lead in consular protection work and attaches great importance to the personal safety of Hong Kong residents travelling abroad. Adhering to its "people-oriented" values and its belief in treating members of the public with compassion, the ImmD has been working in co-ordination with Central Authorities in promoting preventive consular protection. Last year, the ImmD's Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit handled a total of 150 000 enquiries and over 3 300 requests for assistance via its 1868 hotline, making great efforts to provide practical assistance for Hong Kong residents in distress outside Hong Kong. In addition, the ImmD worked with the OCMFA on many occasions to promote and disseminate information on consular protection at schools and in communities with a view to bringing the messages on outbound travel safety and consular protection to persons from all walks of life in Hong Kong. Mr Tsang said he hoped that, to forge ahead and contribute to the well-being of the public, the ImmD could deepen its co-operation with the OCMFA. He also thanked the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, the travel and aviation sectors and members of the media for their support for the ImmD's various areas of work all along.

Ends/Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Issued at HKT 20:02

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