Leung Chun-ying urged to act on 'nomadic' children
A tiresome shuffle back and forth across the border is disrupting the lives and education of an estimated 7,000 Hong Kong children, activists and families said yesterday, calling for government action.

A tiresome shuffle back and forth across the border is disrupting the lives and education of an estimated 7,000 Hong Kong children, activists and families said yesterday, calling for government action.

"[The constant insecurity and disruption of life] torments the children. Many grow up with serious emotional problems," said Sze Lai-shan, an organiser with the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO). Sze and around 30 such children presented a petition to the chief executive yesterday, asking that the mothers be granted permanent, one-way permits to live in Hong Kong. Sze said immigration authorities had reviewed 10 to 20 cases in the past few years, and granted one-way permits to some mainland parents on a case-by-case basis.
But the backlog of cases could take years to clear. SoCO estimates there to be 7,000 "nomadic" Hong Kong-born children; no official figures are kept in Hong Kong or the mainland.
Sze said yesterday that the number would grow by 100-200 cases a year unless the government takes action.
One such case is Lui Wai-ling, aged seven, who is mildly mentally retarded, has language disabilities and needs extra help in school. On her last trip to the mainland, Wai-ling's mother, Xu Junlian, had to wait 46 days before she received her latest two-way permit. Xu fears her daughter may suffer permanent damage from this insecure life.
