Letters | Hong Kong treats immigration detainees lawfully and fairly
- Readers discuss the government’s policy on immigration detainees, a public subsidy for energy-efficient domestic appliances, and how to transform science education
Non-refoulement claimants are illegal immigrants, overstayers or persons refused entry to Hong Kong. To maintain effective immigration control and safeguard public interest, the Immigration Department is committed to removing unsubstantiated claimants from Hong Kong as soon as practicable and legally permissible.
Under the Immigration Ordinance, a person who is liable to be removed from Hong Kong may be detained pending removal or final determination of the claim. In deciding on detention, the government will consider all relevant facts and circumstances, including whether the person has committed a serious crime and is likely to pose a security risk to the community, and any risk of the person absconding or (re)offending, to ensure reasonableness and lawfulness.
Currently, there are about 14 900 non-refoulement claimants remaining in Hong Kong for different reasons. Only 370 (or 2.5 per cent) of them are detained, while the vast majority with low security risk are released on recognisance. For those in detention, the government will conduct regular and timely reviews to determine whether the detention should continue, and will notify detainees of the results and justifications.
At the Legislative Council security panel meeting on December 6, the government consulted members on proposals to expand detention capacity and strengthen detainee management. They were generally supportive. The redeployment of Nei Kwu Correctional Institution will increase the overall detention capacity to 900. The government will arrange appropriate manpower and provide suitable training to ensure treatment of detainees at different facilities is reasonable, fair and largely comparable. Justices of the Peace will also visit detention facilities regularly to ensure effective management and no unfair treatment.
Over the past decade, the landscape of detention at Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre (CIC) has changed considerably, with more problems of indiscipline and detainees with criminal backgrounds posing aggravating challenges to management. Given the increasing risk of dangerous drug problems among detainees, the government proposes to empower medical staff or Immigration Officers at CIC to conduct body cavity searches, mainly through X-rays, on detainees to detect drug possession. The government also proposes to set out acts of indiscipline more comprehensively and step up relevant punishment by increasing the maximum period of separate confinement from seven to 28 days so as to strengthen discipline and order at CIC.
The government will continue to follow the prevailing policy and relevant statutes and legal principles established by the court in making decisions on detention and relevant treatment.
Hinny Lam, deputy secretary for security, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government
City should subsidise green domestic appliances
While mainland China introduced an energy-efficient appliances subsidy scheme a decade ago and California has a similar programme, Hong Kong has yet to propose such a climate-friendly policy on a comparable scale.
Albert Tong, Quarry Bay
Train Hong Kong’s teachers to teach science transformatively
I am currently teaching at an international school in Hong Kong. Scientific thinking skills are 21st-century skills every student should possess and teachers should be trained to teach these skills to Hong Kong students.
Throughout their careers, our students will face intellectual and technical challenges that will call upon their ability to think creatively and propose innovative solutions to scientific problems. Local school administrators should be considering how they can equip students with these essential skills.
In developing reasoning skills among the local student population, we need to make them think like scientists. Unfortunately, there exists a massive gap between what our scientists are doing and what our students are doing. Our scientists are creating, but our students are consuming. Our scientists are discovering, but our students are verifying. Our scientists are reasoning, but our students are recalling.
PhET Interactive Simulations can transform how we teach science to young minds. Using these simulations, teachers can teach all the concepts and science process skills (asking questions, predicting results, making hypotheses, and so on) mentioned in the Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide for science education prepared by the Curriculum Development Council.
In Hong Kong, there is a need for professional development in this regard. Using simulations to teach is a pedagogy in itself, and the Education Bureau could organise professional development sessions for teachers to learn this pedagogy.
There are thousands of these simulations available, but schools could also train teachers to develop lessons based on the learning needs of specific schools.
Having worked in the field of education and with these simulations for a long time, I am willing to offer my expertise regarding this pedagogy free of cost to local schools.
The simulations are free, and teachers can easily use their laptops, tablets and computers to engage students in the inquiry process, thus helping them develop much-needed skills and preparing them for the 21st century. I envision Hong Kong school graduates with these skills. It would be great to have students acquiring all these skills by using these simulations.
Ravi Lall, Ma On Shan
