Airport echoes with weeping as HK exodus gathers pace

The exodus has begun and the evidence is clear in the departure hall of Hong Kong airport.

A mother cradles her son in Hong Kong airport as she heads for the departure gates. Picture: AFP

The exodus has begun and the evidence is clear in the departure halls of Hong Kong airport.

Twice a day the usually deserted check-in area fills with the sound of tearful goodbyes as people fearful for their future under China’s increasingly authoritarian rule start a new life overseas, mostly in Britain.

The number of Hong Kongers flying out of the city each day has almost doubled in six months – from about 800 early in the year to 1500 in July.

London flights tend to leave in the afternoon and late evening. It is then that the check-in area fills with passengers wheeling as much luggage as they are allowed.

Most of those leaving pause for a final hug before passing through the departure gates, the sound of sobbing continuing long after they have disappeared from view.

Clutching his British National Overseas passport, 43-year-old media worker Hanson said he began making plans to leave when he saw footage of police beating democracy supporters during protests two years ago.

Then came a new national ­security law which China imposed on Hong Kong to snuff out dissent. “I will miss Hong Kong a lot, but the situation has deteriorated too fast so I have to go,” he said.

The net outflow of residents has spiked in recent weeks, ­according to immigration figures. Many are taking advantage of an offer by Hong Kong’s former colonial overlord Britain allowing those with BNO passports and their relatives to settle there.

Britain expects 300,000 Hong Kongers to move there over the next three years, including as many as 150,000 this year alone – a higher departure rate than the years leading up to the city’s 1997 handover to China.

London estimates they will bring an estimated “net benefit” of up to £2.9bn ($5.4bn).

Applications for BNO passports have soared and withdrawals from the city’s mandatory pension fund have also reached record highs.

Hong Kong’s government has brushed off the departures. “For those who have decided to leave, that is their own personal choice,” chief executive Carrie Lam said.

Hong Kong has witnessed similar scenes before, especially after Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and as the handover approached. Many became “astronaut” families where one parent would remain in Hong Kong. When their worst fears under Beijing’s rule weren’t ­realised, families returned.

But China is now recasting Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image at a whirlwind pace and it is not clear whether those leaving this time will return.

A 45-year-old teacher, who gave his surname Ho, was among those leaving for the UK with his two young sons. He said he feared Chinese mainland-style education was now being forced on Hong Kong. “I have to design quizzes on the national security law for my students,” he said. “If my kids continue to go to school here then they will be brainwashed.”

This week a group of school principals wrote an open letter to Ms Lam warning that they were losing talented teachers and administrators. “Seriously listen to Hong Kong people to find out why they are leaving,” they wrote.

A housewife, who gave her surname as Lee, said her decision to relocate with her nine-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son was not just based on education fears. “Many injustices happened here,” she said. “The social atmosphere, the news you read every day is just too depressing. It’s exhausting.”

A 27-year-old IT worker who gave his first name Kin came to the airport to wave off a high school friend.

“I feel sad because one of my dearest friends is leaving but I’m also relieved because at least he can breathe the free air,” he said.

AFP