Migrants forced out of Hong Kong

Nearly 5,000 Chinese migrants with families in Hong Kong will be forced to return to the mainland by the final failure yesterday of their long battle to stay.

The Hong Kong court of final appeal ruled by four to one that the migrants, who all have at least one parent living in the territory, had arrived too late to earn the right of abode.

The ruling ended three years of controversy which critics say has weakened confidence in the law and in Hong Kong's autonomy from Beijing.

It dashed the hope that the applicants, who include adults and children, might benefit from an earlier court ruling which was reversed by Beijing. Some of them have since married legal Hong Kong residents.

"It's just so unfair," a 42-year-old migrant from Fujian said."My family is here and my parents are so old and they need me to take care of them."

Hundreds of migrants waiting near the court wept after hearing the verdict and vowed not to leave.

Hong Kong's secretary for security, Regina Ip, urged them to return to the mainland and apply for permits to visit Hong Kong.

In a tacit admission that the ruling will cause widespread hardship, the social welfare department offered an counselling services. The immigration department said it would not carry out a threat of immediate deportation.

The Chinese public security authorities announced a "period of grace" until March, allowing the migrants to re-enter the mainland without risking prosecution.