Hong Kong Watch meets with Immigration Committee members to discuss solutions to Hong Kong Pathway backlog
On 23 October, Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chair of Trustees, Aileen Calverley, together with Advocacy and Communications Officer, Landson Chan, met with Liberal members of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM), Sameer Zuberi MP and Salma Zahid MP, to discuss the urgent challenges faced by Hong Kong Pathway applicants.
We are grateful to both MPs for taking the time to meet and listen to the concerns of the Hong Kong community and explore different ways to clear the Hong Kong Pathway backlog.
During the meetings, we highlighted the serious issue of limited admission quotas under the Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) category, which the Hong Kong Pathway currently falls under. As it shares the same pool with other special public policies for Ukraine, Sudan, and others, many Hong Kong Pathway applicants are now facing wait times of over a decade to obtain permanent residency. This situation is unacceptable and contradicts the humanitarian purpose of the program.
We discussed possible solutions, including urging the government to allocate additional quotas specifically for the Hong Kong Pathway and to fast-track applications. We also raised concerns about administrative errors and wrongful rejections of open work permit applications, stressing the need for a fair and efficient review process to correct these mistakes.
Hong Kong Watch will continue working closely with CIMM members and other parliamentarians to push for improvements to the Hong Kong Pathway and ensure that Hong Kongers rebuilding their lives in Canada receive timely and fair processing of their applications.
香港監察會晤加拿大國會移民委員會委員 討論解決Hong Kong Pathway申請積壓方案
10月23日，香港監察共同創辦人兼信託董事會主席Aileen Calverley聯同倡議及傳訊主任Landson Chan，會晤加拿大眾議院公民及移民常務委員會自由黨委員Sameer Zuberi MP和Salma Zahid MP，討論「Hong Kong Pathway」申請人面對的迫切挑戰。
香港監察感謝兩位國會議員抽時間會面並聆聽港人社群的憂慮，探討清理「Hong Kong Pathway」申請積壓的不同方法。
會議期間，我們指出「Hong Kong Pathway」目前所屬「人道與恩恤 H&C」類別的移民配額有限，強調問題嚴重。由於「Hong Kong Pathway」與針對烏克蘭、蘇丹及其他國家的特殊公共政策共用同一配額，很多申請人現時要等待超過十年才可獲得永久居留權。這種情況不能接受，亦有違計劃的人道宗旨。
我們討論可以採取的解決方案，包括呼籲加拿大政府分配更多配額給「Hong Kong Pathway」，並加快處理申請。我們亦提出有關系統錯誤和開放式工作簽證（open work permit）申請錯誤被拒的憂慮，強調需要建立公平及有效率的審核程序來糾正這些錯誤。
香港監察會繼續與移民委員會委員及其他國會議員緊密合作，推動改善「Hong Kong Pathway」計劃，確保在加拿大重建生活港人的申請得到適時及公平處理。