Response contradicts remarks by former security chief Regina Ip over disappearance of bookseller Lee Bo
EDDIE.LEE@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Monday, 11 January, 2016, 10:00am
UPDATED : Monday, 11 January, 2016, 12:41pm
Protesters tie yellow ribbons to barriers outside the China Liaison Office. Despite claims that Lee Bo went to the mainland on his own, many Hongkongers still suspect mainland law enforcement to be involved in his disappearance, with thousands taking to the street in protest. Photo: EPA
The whereabouts of bookseller Lee Bo remain unknown, but the Hong Kong government insists that anyone – including Hong Kong residents – must produce a valid travel document or Hong Kong identity card for immigration clearance when he or she leaves the city —but only at control points.
The border regime
The issue of whether Lee had gone to the mainland “using his own method” as he allegedly claimed has raised questions about the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s border security efforts.
The concern over the city’s borders intensified after former security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said last week that Hong Kong permanent residents could enter and exit the city freely without going through the city’s control points as this was not an offence.
She cited fishermen and rich people sailing away during weekends as examples of exit without going through the checkpoints.
In a reply to the Post, the Security Bureau did not comment on Ip’s remarks but noted: “Passengers entering or leaving Hong Kong by vessels, except those whose clearance are conducted at a ferry terminal, are required to furnish to the captain of the ship the prescribed particulars.”
Watch: Thousands of Hong Kong protesters march to demand release of missing booksellers
The captain of the ship was required to furnish the same to the Immigration Department together with those particulars of the crew for examination on arrival or immediately before departure of the ship from Hong Kong, the bureau said.
It added that clearance procedures, depending on the type of ship, should be completed at the Immigration Department within three to 24 hours on arrival and immediately before departure of the ship from Hong Kong waters.
The bureau did not say whether any specific immigration law would be violated if the procedures were not followed, nor did it state whether it was possible that a person compelled by an accident or other reasonable causes could leave Hong Kong at an unauthorised place of embarkation.
Senior counsel Neville Sarony, who owns a leisure boat, said many people leaving Hong Kong waters by boat skipped formal checks by marine police unless the force felt suspicious of the vessels.
“As far as I know, none of these sailors notified the Immigration Department (before departure),” he said.
The authorities assumed that those people leaving by boat would come back by boat, the lawyer explained.
He said there might be a grey area in terms of enforcing border control. Neither agriculture and fisheries sector lawmaker Steven Ho Chun-yin nor trade bodies such as the Hong Kong Fishermen’s Association could be reached for comment on the procedures for fishermen.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1899824/grey-areas-plague-hong-kong-maritime-border-checks
