34,600 Hong Kongers urge the UK Prime Minister to maintain the 5+1 BNO pathway

Today, a petition signed by over 34,000 BNO Hong Kongers was sent to the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, urging his government to maintain the pathway to citizenship for the British National (Overseas) (BNO) scheme in its current form. This represents 21% of Hong Kongers who have arrived in the UK on the BNO scheme, according to government data.

The petition highlights the humanitarian nature of the BNO pathway and its reflection of the UK’s historical commitment to the people of Hong Kong, and implores the UK government not to renege on the solemn promise made to BNO Hong Kongers. It also lays out practical concerns of the BNO community if the pathway to settlement is lengthened to ten years.

Since the launch of this petition on 21 May, it has gained significant support from the BNO community, with over 27,600 signatures collected in the first 2 days and a total of 34,600 signatures collected in less than 3 weeks. We were also pleased to see that this campaign was supported by local Hong Konger community organisers, who have taken the initiative to share this campaign within their community.

This follows the publication of the UK government’s 12 May White Paper Restoring control over the immigration system, which proposes changes to the Immigration Rules in the UK which might affect the BNO scheme, including doubling the standard time to achieve settled status from five years to ten. On 20 May, the Home Office refused to rule out extending the pathway to achieve settled status for those on the BNO scheme to ten years.

You can read the full text of the petition here.

We sincerely appreciate your support for our advocacy on behalf of BNO Hong Kongers.

Lord Patten of Barnes, the last Governor of Hong Kong and Patron of Hong Kong Watch, said:

“The BNO scheme was issued as a rebuke to Beijing’s violation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and as a promise to British Nationals in Hong Kong that the UK government would help them flee increasing repression. To rewrite the terms of that promise now would be disastrous for the UK’s legitimacy on the world stage. The Prime Minister should ensure we keep our promise to BNO Hong Kongers and maintain the 5+1 pathway to citizenship on this route.”

Lord Alton of Liverpool, Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and Patron of Hong Kong Watch, said:

“The BNO scheme was born from Britain’s historical responsibilities. The government should not abandon the people of Hong Kong who trusted our word. To do so would irreversibly damage our standing on the world stage, and it would send the wrong signal to all others fleeing repression across the world.”

Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, said:

"The 5+1 BNO pathway has provided a vital lifeline to those fleeing repression. A 10-year wait for settled status would have huge practical implications for people who are eager to rebuild their lives in our country. We must honour the terms that Hong Kongers, and other migrants, have arrived on. It isn’t fair to change the length of their pathway to settlement now.”

Clive Jones, Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham, said:

“This isn’t about migration targets, it’s about moral targets. Changing the rules halfway through undermines confidence in our immigration system. We lose our credibility if we fail to protect those we welcomed, and we gain nothing by disrupting the lives of those already contributing. There’s no need to disrupt a successful policy. It’s to our benefit — economically, socially, and diplomatically.”

James Naish, Labour MP for Rushcliffe, said:

“Maintaining the five-year pathway to settlement for BN(O) visa holders is to preserve our solemn commitment to the people of Hong Kong, rooted in Britain’s historic obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Britain has a duty to welcome those fleeing repression in Hong Kong. To fail to maintain the five-year pathway for BN(O) visa holders would potentially permanently damage the government’s standing with Hong Kongers, hundreds of thousands of whom have placed their trust in the UK and uprooted their lives to seek a safe haven in Britain.

This is why it is critical that the government’s promises to BN(O) visa holders are kept, and they are protected from the changes proposed in the Immigration White Paper.

Beyond that, in the same spirit, the government should finally act to extend home fee status for BN(O) visa holders so that young BN(O) visa holders in my constituency of Rushcliffe, and across the UK, are able to attend university alongside their non-Hong Konger classmates and are, therefore, able to reach their full potential to contribute to enriching our economy and our society.”

Thomas Benson, Senior Research and Policy Advisor at Hong Kong Watch, said:

“Hong Kong Watch has campaigned for BNO status holders’ rights since 2017, leading to the birth of the BNO lifeboat scheme in 2020. We urge the Prime Minister’s government to demonstrate that these historic and moral obligations are not conditional and politically expendable, by maintaining the BNO lifeboat scheme in its current form.”

34,600港人支持香港監察致英首相「5+1」BNO政策聯署信  要求英政府履行對港歷史義務

今天，香港監察將一封獲超過34,000名BNO港人簽署的請願信寄給英國首相施紀賢（Keir Starmer），促請英國政府維持現行BNO計劃的「5+1」入籍途徑。根據政府數字，這個數目佔以BNO簽證抵英港人人口的21%。

請願信強調了BNO簽證的人道主義性質，計劃展現英國對香港人的歷史承諾，並促請英國政府切勿違背對BNO港人的莊嚴承諾。請願信同時闡述了如果定居途徑延長至十年，BNO社群可能會面對的實際憂慮。

自香港監察於5月21日發起聯署行動以來，請願信獲得BNO社群大力支持，在首兩天已收集到超過27,600個簽名，最後在不足三星期的聯署期共收集到34,600個簽名。我們亦樂見這項聯署行動得到本地港人組織支持，他們主動在自己的社區活動中分享這封請願信。

英國內政部於5月12日發表白皮書《Restoring control over the immigration system》，當中提議修改英國移民規則（Immigration Rules），包括將獲得定居身分的標準時間由五年增加一倍至十年，這可能會影響BNO計劃。5月20日，內政部拒絕排除BNO簽證持有人獲得定居身分將延長至十年的可能性。

請在這裏閱讀請願信全文。

香港監察衷心感謝各位支持我們代表BNO港人展開的倡議工作。

最後一任香港總督、香港監察贊助人彭定康勳爵（Lord Patten of Barnes）表示：

「推出BNO計劃是為了譴責北京違反《中英聯合聲明》，並向在港英國公民承諾，英國政府將幫助他們脫離不斷加劇的壓迫。若現在修改條款，將大為打擊英國在世界舞台上的正當性。首相務必確保我們信守對BNO港人的承諾，維持BNO計劃的『5+1』入籍途徑。」

英國國會人權聯合委員會主席、香港監察贊助人奧爾頓勳爵（Lord Alton of Liverpool）表示：

「BNO計劃是基於英國的歷史責任而誕生的。英國政府不應拋棄相信我們承諾的香港人。這樣做將不可挽回地損害我們在世界舞台上的地位，並向世界各地所有逃離壓迫的人發出錯誤的信息。」

東諾定咸（Nottingham East）選區工黨國會議員Nadia Whittome表示：

「BNO『5+1』入籍途徑為逃離壓迫的人提供重要的救生艇。若要等待10年才獲得定居身分，將對渴望在我們國家重建生活的人構成巨大的實際影響。我們必須信守香港及其他移民來到英國的條款，現在改變他們的定居年期並不公平。」

和景咸（Wokingham）選區自由民主黨國會議員Clive Jones表示：

「這並非關乎移民目標，而是關乎道德目標。中途修改移民規則將削弱人民對英國移民體系的信心。如果我們無法保護那些我們歡迎來到英國的人，我們將失去信譽；而擾亂那些貢獻英國社會的人的生活，亦不會為我們帶來任何好處。我們沒有必要破壞一項成功的政策。這項政策無論是在經濟、社會還是外交方面，均對我們有利。」

Rushcliffe選區工黨國會議員James Naish表示：

「維持BNO簽證的五年定居途徑，是為了恪守我們對香港人的莊嚴承諾，這項承諾扎根於英國在《中英聯合聲明》下的歷史義務。

英國有責任歡迎那些逃離香港壓迫的人。如果未能維持BNO簽證的五年定居途徑，將可能永久損害英國政府在香港人心目中的地位，包括成千上萬信賴英國，繼而離鄉別井，來到英國尋求安全港的香港人。

正因如此，政府必須信守對BNO簽證持有人的承諾，並確保他們免受移民白皮書中提議的修訂影響。

除此之外，本着相同精神，政府亦應該容許BNO簽證持有人享有本地生學費資格，讓在我選區Rushcliffe以至英國各地的年輕BNO港人能夠與其他非港人同學一起上大學，充分發揮潛力，為豐富我們的經濟和社會作貢獻。」

香港監察資深研究及政策顧問湯柏森（Thomas Benson）表示：

「香港監察自2017年起倡議爭取BNO權利，最終促成2020年BNO救生艇計劃誕生。我們促請英國政府維持現時BNO救生艇計劃的形式，從而證明其歷史和道德義務不是有條件的，也不是可以因政治因素而隨便犧牲的。」