The Immigration Department says five of six Indian nationals who were barred from entering Hong Kong on Wednesday filed claims for legal protection through the same lawyer – immediately after their arrival from New Delhi.
All arrived on the same flight, but had said they did not know one another.
This comes as the department is investigating whether any party has been arranging for asylum seekers, torture claimants and refugees to land in Hong Kong to seek legal protection under a United Nations convention that prohibits the return of people to their home countries where they face the threat of torture or death.
The six men were awaiting deportation on Wednesday when all of them lodged claims for "non-refoulement". Five were represented by the same lawyer. The other was helped by another legal representative.
Six other Indian men had also lodged claims for non-refoulement over three days earlier this month, when they were stopped at various entry points.
The department says there has been a rising trend in the number of people seeking such legal protection immediately upon arriving in Hong Kong in recent years. It says the monthly average of such cases has jumped from 12.5 in 2013, to 20 last year, and up to 28.5 so far this year.
All arrived on the same flight, but had said they did not know one another.
This comes as the department is investigating whether any party has been arranging for asylum seekers, torture claimants and refugees to land in Hong Kong to seek legal protection under a United Nations convention that prohibits the return of people to their home countries where they face the threat of torture or death.
The six men were awaiting deportation on Wednesday when all of them lodged claims for "non-refoulement". Five were represented by the same lawyer. The other was helped by another legal representative.
Six other Indian men had also lodged claims for non-refoulement over three days earlier this month, when they were stopped at various entry points.
The department says there has been a rising trend in the number of people seeking such legal protection immediately upon arriving in Hong Kong in recent years. It says the monthly average of such cases has jumped from 12.5 in 2013, to 20 last year, and up to 28.5 so far this year.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1213359-20150924.htm
